Company behind Richoux and Villagio restaurants enters administration

The company behind restaurant brands including Richoux and Villagio has become the latest casual dining group to enter administration, with the loss of 147 jobs.

Dining Street and its subsidiaries Richoux and Newultra operated 15 sites, predominantly in London and the south of England.

These included the Richoux, Zintino, Friendly Phil's, Villagio and the Broadwick brands.

All of its restaurants have been closed for dine-in services since 20 December, though a handful continued to provide takeaway and delivery services.

But uncertainty around reopening and the burden of ongoing costs while closed meant the directors had to appoint administrators.

KPMG is now exploring a sale of the business.

Will Wright, partner at KPMG and joint administrator, said: "The current plight of the UK's hospitality sector cannot be underestimated. Despite the breadth of support packages available, the reality is that the latest lockdown measures have proven to be a hammer blow for many businesses which, like the Dining Street group of companies, continue to accrue creditor liabilities while seeing little to no revenues coming in.

"The group had a number of popular brands and outlets, and so we are currently exploring options for a sale of the business and its assets. We would like to invite any interested parties to contact us as soon as possible.

"We are also working with the group's employees as a matter of priority, to provide them with all the assistance they need in claiming monies owed from the Redundancy Payments Office."

Hospitality businesses have warned that government grants are not enough to cover costs while they are closed. Others have criticised the delay in receiving the funds through their local councils, with trade bodies urging the prime minister to intervene this week.

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