Just 5 years after making a significant investment in launching their first restaurant on the Isle of Wight, Prezzo has announced that it will be closing its ‘non-viable’ Newport eatery for good.
The Italian restaurant chain opened in Newport High Street back in April 2016, creating 18 jobs. The doors were opened after the former Post Office site was spectacularly transformed to create upmarket dining for 178 guests.
However, the coronavirus pandemic has taken its toll on the chain and now 22 restaurants are to permanently close across the UK in a bid to save the struggling company. Prezzo was taken over by Cain International in December which it is hoped will save the vast majority of Prezzo’s 2,900-strong workforce. Sadly, 216 jobs are set to be lost following today’s closure announcement.
Prezzo Isle of Wight temporarily shut its doors when the first national lockdown hit and didn’t re-open until October, but was once again forced to close as a result of the second and third lockdowns. Now it looks like the doors will never re-open.
Jonathan Goldstein, chief executive of Cain International, has said:
“We firmly believe that strong hospitality businesses, such as Prezzo, have a bright future and will play an essential role in reviving the UK economy.
“However, to do so, we must get through this current crisis of mounting liabilities and no revenues.
Article continues below this advertisement “The lack of visibility on when and how the sector will reopen has heightened economic uncertainty to the point where decisive action had to be taken to secure the future of the business and the majority of jobs for Prezzo’s people.
“We are deeply sorry for all those affected by the permanent closure of the 22 non-viable restaurants.
“It was a difficult, but essential, decision to take but doing so will allow us to save thousands of jobs and create more in the future.”
It is unclear at this early stage what the future holds for the High Street premises, which is the latest location to be added to Newport’s growing list of empty properties. Prezzo’s competitor, Pizza Express, has already closed in the town.
How about turning it back into a Post Office Newport sure needs one
eat a pizza while posting a parcel? I’m in!
I’ve never heard of Prezzo, however, sorry for the lost jobs.
My idea of a good meal out would be in a nice village pub, restaurants in towns have never appealed to me, too trendy and modern and crowded.
You can’t beat a relaxing rural location that serves good food, very therapeutic…
What a shocker it must have costs thousands to transform this building into the lovely
Building it is.
Who can afford to take this building on now!
Newport was once a nice place to visit, soon it will be a waste site.
Yes, just like most of the country, we shop online now so our towns are lost.
Our councils don’t help with extortionate business rates and little people that can’t get a proper job stinking tickets on cares.
This is why supermarkets rule when it comes to shopping, at least you can park your car without worrying about you know who arasing you for money..
Only half of business rates go to the council the rest goes to central government,
so you cannot keep blaming the council
Why does anyone bother – with the rasping council demanding that you pay them for the privilege of busting a gut to make a business work (business rates) – the council do not provide any help or support to a business, but quite happily take money from it.
more and more are online only and less and less are doing bricks and mortar, because of the sky high charges and hurdle after hurdle put in their way – car park charges, no parking etc.
John, housing is easy money compared to running a business now. Think about it. IF you own a business you are constantly having more and more rules and regs pushed onto you.
The public are more than aware of the compensation culture easy gains, so you are at risk if someone spills a drink, drops a piece of food and someone slips, and sues, along with the ever costly necessary fire, hygiene, legionaire tests etc.
The growing drug/drunk/or just vile element are your problem to deal with to as more fill this land. CV and the poverty ‘after’ its over will cause less footfall.
Yet IF turned into flats, HMG pays, if tenant cant
Exactly. Retail outfits prefer out of town (or edge of town) places now where they can build a big car park which is FREE for customers (yes council, free).
One day it will dawn on the council.
Also, if you are out of town, and people have to ‘drive’ to visit, you get far less drunks and troublesome beings as you do with the vile gangs which hang around town just looking for trouble. This puts off decent people from wishing to go out as couples now in towns.
Yet this shower in charge just want more homes so they can scalp off more c tax from extra homes, and care nothing for ‘others’. Ensure YOU recall this in May at the ‘box’
How about just defying the rules and opening,this is the intended outcome of the fake global hoax.
It would appear I’m banned from commenting on island echo, my post’s appear deleted, free speech is a dirty word on island echo…
I’m sure the lefties will be very happy, happy snowflakes are R…. US…
If it’s any consolation, Truth, mine get deleted as well and I’m not known for sympathy with the present administrations. I suspect it’s actually a badly-programmed bot.
I’ve noticed quite a few comments being deleted lately, they certainly do not like the truth being shared! And I see they’ve also given you less characters to work with as I believe we were explaining ourselves too well!
I notice that anything with the c o u n c i l mentioned is very unlikley to get shown now. I wonder if the stick, or the carrot was used on the Echo?
For many comments I and my family members have made unless positive are never allowed now.
Disgusting unless a post is rude or legally not allowed, so I think pressure has been administered recently by those who can’t be mentioned now.
For someone who gets deleted I seem to read a lot of your bilge
Too posh for Nippert. All the Michelin star style places will go, leaving only the Michelin tyre type eateries.
New housing is what it will probably become, its the lack of free parking in Newport that is killing it, look at Ryde there is more free parking and it’s high St is booming. Shame that the landlord of prezzo is probably greedy, no one will take it
I Agree, Ryde is often busier than Newport and I know some retailers who have stores in both towns take more in Ryde. Especially high season or Christmas time.
It’s the only SMART LOOKING place in Newport, what a shame to see this place go and turn into another eye sore that Newport has now become.
LOOK at the frontage of the shops, tacky, wood rotting, dirty looking shops and even a hideous pink, blue and white innapropriate looking place now on the high street. Sorry if you are the owner but really it looks so tacky.
NEWPORT is a delipidated mess.
Adding huge numbers of non Islander to fill the massive number of abodes will add to the decline. As mainly the sort we don’t want will arrive and soon outbreed the free homes provided, which the rest of us will fund to have OUR lives ruined by such and their c l o n e s.
It’s a shame another nice restaurant has closed on the Island, it’s not surprising all 22 are closing, sure there will be more to close when the furlough finishes, it would be nice to reopen a Post Office again being in a central position.
No hardship to buy one in supermarket for a tenth of the price, easy to cook, even the dimmest could manage that I am sure.