Virus deals knock-out blow to British restaurant chain Carluccio's

Anglo-Italian restaurant chain Carluccio's entered administration on Monday, putting around 2,000 jobs at risk, after challenging trading conditions on the high street were exacerbated by the spread of coronavirus.

Joint administrators from advisory firm FRP have been appointed to explore options including a sale of all or parts of the group, and said the primary purpose of the move was to rescue the company, set up in 1991 as a deli shop by chef Antonio Carluccio. "We are operating in unprecedented times and the issues currently facing the hospitality sector following the onset of COVID-19 are well documented," said Geoff Rowley, Joint Administrator and Partner at FRP, referring to the disease caused by coronavirus.

"In the absence of being able to continue to trade Carluccio's, in the short term, we are urgently focused on the options available to preserve the future of the business and protect its employees." Britain last week ordered bars, restaurants and non-essential shops to close, a move Prime Minister Boris Johnson said was necessary to stop coronavirus overwhelming the health service even as it hits the economy hard.

Finance minister Rishi Sunak has announced a package of measures to support businesses and workers through the crisis, including a scheme to pay 80% of the wages of furloughed employees. Carluccio's administrators said they would use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to furlough most of Carluccio's 2,000 workers while they assessed the options.

Antonio Carluccio, a chef and television personality from southern Italy, opened the first Carluccio's as a food shop in 1991, before he opened a restaurant under the brand in 1999. Carluccio died in 2017. There are 71 Carluccio restaurants across the UK and Ireland that are affected by the administration, while its Middle Eastern franchise business is not included.

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