High street diners could lose their local Gusto Italian following the announcement of six site closures across its 13 UK locations. The announcement comes after the accountancy firm Price Bailey revealed that roughly a fifth of all 50,900 British restaurants surveyed had negative net assets on their balance sheets as of November 2024.
Originating from Cheshire in 2005, Gusto was born out of a rebranding of ‘Est Est Est’ by Jeremy Roberts and the late Tim Bacon, and has been honoured as Italian Restaurant of the Year at the PAPA Industry Awards. The restaurant group revealed that site closures are part of an acquisition deal with Cherry Equity Partners, the owner of Latin American restaurant concept Cabana. Gusto Italian operates across England in the North West, North East, Midlands, Yorkshire, Oxford, and has one site in Edinburgh, Scotland. Earlier today, reports suggested that the restaurant chain was teetering on the brink of collapse and was likely to be sold through a pre-packaged insolvency agreement.
The six restaurants earmarked for closure are yet to be named, but it has been revealed that the insolvency will result in around 190 redundancies.
These closures are predominantly at smaller, suburban sites that have become financially unsustainable due to ongoing cost pressures in the industry.
Paul Moran, CEO of Gusto Restaurants, said: “We are profoundly sorry to see six of our restaurants close and are tremendously grateful for the support of our staff and our loyal customers at these locations over the years.”
Full list of Gusto Italian restaurants
North West
- Alderley Edge
- Cheadle Hulme
- Heswall
- Liverpool
- Manchester
Yorkshire
- Cookridge
- Leeds City Centre
North East
Midlands
South
Scotland
Sky News reported that Interpath Advisory was preparing for an insolvency agreement.
The transaction, which will be carried out via a pre-pack administration process, will ensure seven flagship Gusto restaurants will continue to operate, safeguarding over 300 jobs, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Ed Standring, CEO and operating partner of Cherry Equity Partners, commented: “This investment marks our third acquisition in six months, and underscores our deep commitment to the UK hospitality sector.
“Cherry is an operator-led sector specialist. This is an industry we’re incredibly passionate about and one we believe is full of opportunity.”
In a recent turn of events, Gusto Italian in Didsbury ceased operations abruptly last November following a review of the site’s performance and an offer from a ‘well-known’ retailer.
Will Wright and Rick Harrison from Interpath are spearheading the deal. They are tipped to be named joint administrators of Gusto Restaurants Limited.
Will Wright, UK CEO of Interpath, commented: “Although these continue to be challenging times for hospitality operators, we are pleased to advise on this transaction which will safeguard the future of a fantastic brand which has been serving customers across cities and suburbs for over twenty years.”