Fulham Road Loses Long Established Branch of Carluccio's
Closure comes amid uncertainty over future of Broadway's Gourmet Burger Kitchen
The long established branch of Carluccio's opposite Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on Fulham Road has closed.
The closure, which caught local people by surprise, follows an announcement three months ago that the chain was likely to close 34 branches after its creditors agreed to a
company voluntary agreement, or CVA.
This is
an insolvency procedure that is currently being used by many restauranteurs and retailers to restructure their businesses and shed loss-making sites.
At the time, Carluccio’s chief executive, Mark Jones, said: “We are pleased that our proposal for a CVA has been approved by our creditors. This vote was vital to protect our strong core business and the Carluccio’s brand.”
Now a message on the restaurant's website says simply: "Sadly, our restaurant in Fulham is now closed. Please visit us at South Kensington, High Street Kensington and Putney."
Carluccio’s, which was launched by the late chef Antonio Carluccio in 1999, but now controlled by controlled by a Dubai-based conglomerate called the Landmark Group, is one of a number of chains in what is called the casual dining sector to be facing hard times in 2018.
Other well known names including Strada, which closed its Fulham branch last year, Byron's and Jamie's Italian, have already been forced to close restaurants.
Yet another chain, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, which has two branches in our borough in Fulham Broadway and Westfield, is reported to have appointed accountancy giant Deliotte to set up a CVA after porting huge losses.
Famous Brands, GBK’s parent company said: " Difficult trading conditions persisted across all our markets during the review period, with common features including intensified competitor activity and margin pressure in the context of economic hardship."
GBK made operating loss of £2.24m in the 22 weeks ending 29 July 2018 with like for like sales down by over 10%.
The company, which was founded in 2001 by three New Zealanders with the first branch opening in Battersea blames these losses on higher business rates, labour and food costs.
It is now yet known which branches may be earmarked for closure. However, Fulham Broadway has suffered from a number of losses this summer, with the departure of M&S Simply Food and the Elk Bar, along with earlier closures of the Chop Chop noodle bar, Lekkerbek coffee shop and M&S neighbour, North African restaurant and cafe Del Aziz.
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September 19, 2018