Individual Restaurants to close four sites

Individual Restaurants has announced it is to close four of its 28 UK restaurants.

Piccolino sites in Clitheroe and York, the Restaurant Bar & Grill in Manchester and the Alderley Bar & Grill in Cheshire will shut permanently on 5 September.

Some 140 jobs are affected, with the business entering a consultation period with staff at each site.

Karen Forrester, executive chairperson of Individual Restaurants, said the closures were part of a "long-term investment and development plan" in the business's future.

"Our main priority is to keep our people within our Individual Restaurants family by offering opportunities to relocate to other Individual restaurant locations. We will be supporting them throughout this process," she said.

The company's restaurant estate was sold to Ice Acquisitions, which is controlled by the founder of supermarket chain Iceland, for more than £40m in November 2020.

It is understood the deal did not include the eight My Restaurant sites the group runs in partnership with celebrity chef Gino D'Acampo in the Midlands and north of England.