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Frankie & Benny’s Sites To Shut Amid Losses

The owner of restaurant chains Frankie & Benny's and Chiquito is to shut 33 sites as it attempts to recover from a difficult start to the year.

Around 500 jobs will be affected by the Restaurant Group (Other OTC: RSTGF - news) 's decision, but it is hoped that the employees will be able to take other positions in new or existing restaurants across the company.

The firm has said that there will be few, if any job losses.

The Restaurant Group plans to close the "underperforming" branches, including 14 Frankie and Benny's venues and 11 Chiquitos, immediately.

It has not been revealed which sites will be closing.

The firm ousted chief executive Danny Breithaupt two weeks ago as part of its efforts to turn its fortunes around following a profit warning and plummeting share price.

Mr Breithaupt was replaced by Andy McCue, who stepped down as chief executive of Paddy Power (EUREX: 27913021.EX - news) after its recent merger with Betfair.

In its half-year results released on Friday, the Restaurant Group was frank about the challenges it is facing in many parts of the company.

Commenting on the underperformance of Frankie & Benny's, it said the chain has suffered due to "insufficient focus on value, unsuccessful menu development and poor operational execution".

"In 2015, we began to introduce more 'authentic' menus without sufficient testing of the concept," said company chair Debbie Hewitt.

"This led to the removal of many popular dishes from the menus and led to a further decline in covers.

"We are now clear about where we want to focus, who we want to measure ourselves against and how we will deliver.

"We have a detailed action plan, with many actions already underway."