Fulham Shore confirms Franco Manca CVA

Restaurant group Fulham Shore has confirmed it is undertaking a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) for its high street pizza brand Franco Manca, resulting in 16 site closures across the portfolio.

Following multiple reports on the future of the group, including a potential sale of its other brand The Real Greek, Fulham Shore CEO Marcel Khan has confirmed the Franco Manca CVA, explaining the restaurants in question "are no longer sustainable in this cost environment".

While Khan's statement says there is no confirmation of locations for the 16 closures, it is thought that eight are in London (Battersea, Kilburn, Stoke Newington, New Oxford Street, Tottenham Court Road, Chiswick, Brixton and Broadway Market), while the other eight sites are in Cheltenham, Plymouth, Bishop’s Stortford, Hove, Lincoln, Didsbury, Glasgow and Bromley. 

"Over the last two years under our current management, we have been making strong progress against several key performance indicators, with productivity, customer satisfaction, happiness ratings, loyalty and frequency improving significantly," says Khan. "However, even restaurant businesses that are doing all the right things from a customer and operational perspective are not immune to widely publicised pressures impacting the hospitality industry. This includes significant increases in National Insurance and National Living Wage in recent history, as well as a lack of business rates relief for the restaurant sector and disproportionately high VAT in the UK compared with Europe.

"As a result of these external cost pressures, we have to make sure that we are putting our business on a sustainable footing for long-term growth and development. This is why we have taken the difficult decision to undertake a CVA for Franco Manca, which will see a minority proportion of our restaurants closing where they are no longer sustainable in this cost environment.

"We are deeply saddened by the closures of a minority proportion of our restaurants and will support our affected team members throughout this process in every way that we can."

Khan goes on to say that the group is continuing to review options for The Real Greek, with no decision yet made on the brand's future.

Fulham Shore was bought by Japanese restaurant group Toridoll, with backing from investment firm Capdesia, in 2023 for £93.4m.

You may also be interested in…