Tayside and Fife restaurants at risk as owner warns ‘large number’ won’t reopen

A restaurant chain that has four locations in Tayside and Fife has warned a ‘large number’ of its outlets will remain closed after lockdown ends.

Frankie & Benny’s has premises within Dundee’s Overgate Shopping Centre, St Catherine’s Leisure Park in Perth, Fife Central Retail Park in Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline’s Whimbrel Place. The locations are all currently closed.

According to an email seen by the BBC, the owner of dining chain The Restaurant Group (TRG) is set to tell staff on Wednesday that many sites are “no longer viable to trade and will remain closed permanently”.

The email adds: “The Covid-19 crisis has significantly impacted our ability to trade profitably, so we’ve taken the tough decision to close these restaurants now.”

It is understood that between 100 and 120 restaurants could not reopen, with the majority of those being Frankie and Benny’s sites.

In September last year, the company said it expected to close around half of its sites when leases come up for renewal.

In March, TRG was forced to shut a majority of its Chiquito Mexican-style outlets as well as its Food & Fuel chain of pubs in London after falling into administration.

The company, which also owns Wagamama and Garfunkel’s, is one of the largest restaurant operators in Britain.

It currently has around 22,000 staff on furlough.

The development, follows Casual Dining Group – which operates Bella Italia, situated next to the Odeon cinema at Fife Leisure Park, on the outskirts of Dunfermline – entering administration in March.

Restaurant Group has declined to comment.