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Coronavirus: Pizza Express says it will cut around 1,300 jobs in UK

Pizza Express has said it is cutting around 1,300 jobs across the UK - on top of 1,100 already announced in the summer.

The restaurant chain said recent trading had worsened in the face of tightened COVID-19 restrictions.

It made the announcement after securing the agreement of its creditors in September for a restructuring that it said had "secured" the future for its remaining 9,000 workforce.

That deal, under a so-called company voluntary arrangement, (CVA) resulted in the closure of 73 sites.

It confirmed on Thursday that no further closures were planned but it expected around 1,300 staff to lose out through voluntary and compulsory redundancies in a bid to cut costs.

Managing director Zoe Bowley said: "Our aim throughout these extremely challenging times has been to keep our team members and customers safe, and to retain jobs for as long as possible.

"As a leading employer in our sector, we see every day how this pandemic is having a profound impact on our industry, our business and on people's lives.

"Unfortunately, the recent increase in COVID-19 cases is again causing footfall to decline across the UK. As this is expected to continue for some months, we sadly need to make changes that will impact more of our team members.

"Our people remain at the heart of our business and we are doing what we can to support those who are affected.

"We believe that this difficult decision will give us more resilience through the next six months and help us to continue serving our customers in our restaurants and at home in the years ahead."