The Isle of Wight will lose its only Pizza Express restaurant, it has been confirmed.
73 locations across the country – including Newport – will be closed for good as part of a plan to shore up the company’s finances. The chain currently operates around 470 sites.
1,100 jobs will be lost nationwide but it is unclear how many staff are affected on the Island.
Pizza Express has been located on the corner of Town Lane and Pyle Street in the heart of Newport for over 10 years.
Zoe Bowley, Managing Director for Pizza Express in the UK & Ireland, has said:
“Today we have confirmed that 73 of our pizzerias are proposed to close permanently.
“In most cases, there is another Pizza Express nearby, either already open or reopening soon, to welcome our customers. Our focus is on our people whose jobs are impacted and we will be doing everything we can either to redeploy them or to support them in finding roles elsewhere.
“Hard as this process is, it will protect the jobs of over 9,000 of our colleagues and provide a strong footing for Pizza Express to meet future challenges and opportunities.”
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The news comes as M&S confirm they are looking to cut 7,000 jobs across the country, which could also impact Isle of Wight workers.
Another slap in the face for loyal staff!
Another one bites the dust! And as a lot more places are closing down there are going to be a lot of people chasing the same jobs!
Not surprised! Went there, only half full, but weren’t taking any more customers because ‘chef’ wasn’t taking any more orders! Hmm! Happened twice, not tried again!
As too often happens they probably think the thick blue line on the map between us and Portsmouth is just decorative.
More junk food joints off our streets, the porkies will have to learn to cook….
Oh I doubt that. They’ll go to some other ‘heart attack’ takeaway food joint.
This is just the start, this ‘pandemic’ will have destroyed life as we know it in a very short time. Poverty and crime will increase as people’s livelihoods are destroyed.