The Restaurant Group to offload over 30 sites
The Restaurant Group says it is looking to either convert or dispose of around 35 loss-making leisure sites.
The move could see the conversion of three sites into Wagamama restaurants within the next two years.
The group, which operates a number of other restaurant brands including Franky & Benny’s, expects its leisure estate will shrink by around 30% from 116 sites to 75-85 sites by 2024.
The Restaurant Group said that at least 13 sites will be exited through tenancy termination or lease expiry, while seven freehold sites are expected to be sold. In addition, a further 10-20 sites are being marketed for exit as part of an accelerated disposal programme.
The group said the measures were in response to a tough macro-economic environment, and designed to further cash regeneration.
The Restaurant Group’s leisure businesses saw flat like-for-like sales growth in 2022, 5% behind the rest of the market. The group said the leisure business is in a highly contested market segment, and therefore has been the most directly impacted by cost-of-living pressures.
Despite this, the group said its Wagamamas, pubs, and concessions businesses’ like-for-like sales all outperformed their respective market benchmarks in 2022 (against 2019 comparatives).