A POPULAR Italian restaurant chain has announced it will shut more than 40 of its restaurants nationwide, including its branch in Colchester.

Prezzo is set to close down 46 loss-making restaurants after being hit hard by rising energy and food costs.

Unfortunately for Colchester, the firm's eatery in Culver Street has been named as being part of the cull.

The restaurant chain has advised around 810 workers are at risk of redundancy as part of the overhaul.

Bosses running the private equity-owned businesses said the cuts are part of a broader strategic review, as only sites where post-Covid recovery has proved harder than hoped will be affected.

Gazette: Bosses have included the Colchester site in the list of closuresBosses have included the Colchester site in the list of closures (Image: Google Maps)

The mass shakeup is set to leave the chain with 97 restaurants and about 2,000 staff.

Staff were informed of the closures earlier this morning, with a consultation process being launched.

The restaurant group has said costs have soared over the past year, with its utility bills more than doubling, with double-digit wage inflation.

The site has also been impacted by the rise in food costs, that hit a 45 year high last month.

The chain stated it was hit with a 40 per cent increase in the cost of spaghetti, 28 per cent rise in the price of pizza sauce and a 15 per cent increase in the cost of its dough balls.

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Dean Challenger, chief executive of Prezzo, said: “The last three years have been some of the hardest times I have ever seen for the high street and I’m extremely proud of the way our colleagues have retained Prezzo’s position as an appealing, trusted, great value food and drink experience.

“But the reality is that the cost-of-living crisis, the changing face of the high street and soaring inflation has made it impossible to keep all our restaurants operating profitably.

“We believe the tough decisions we are making today will ensure Prezzo can continue serving communities with high-quality, accessible Italian-inspired meals for many more years to come.”

The closure plan comes just two years after the group previously shut 22 restaurants, cutting 216 jobs at the time.