Up to 1,100 jobs are at risk at Pizza Express's restaurants in the UK as it plans to close around 67 of its sites.
The chain said it is planning to launch a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) in the "near future" in a bid to push down its rents due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Pizza Express says the outcome is yet to be decided but it may end in the closure of around 15 per cent of its 449 restaurants in the UK, affecting 1,100 staff.
The company added: "This decision is a very difficult one; however, against the current unprecedented backdrop, Pizza Express believes reducing the size of its estate will help it to protect 9,000 jobs."
All Pizza Express restaurants across Oxfordshire are under threat. There are sites in:
- Oxford
- Witney
- Abingdon
- Bicester
- Oxford Services
- Banbury
- Wallingford
- Henley
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