Nearly 50 Prezzo restaurants set to close including Glasgow's St Vincent Place and Livingston's Designer Outlet

Prezzo will close 46 of its restaurants, including branches in Glasgow and Livingston, as it struggles with soaring energy and food costs.

The Italian restaurant group said 810 workers are at risk of redundancy as they announced the move on Monday.

In Scotland, Glasgow’s St Vincent Place restaurant and the site at Livingston’s Designer Outlet are set to close.

Following the closures, the chain will have 97 restaurants and around 2,000 staff left.

The private equity-owned business said it had to close sites after it was impacted by utility bills and the rising cost of food – which reached a 45-year high last month.

Dean Challenger, chief executive of Prezzo, said: “The last three years have been some of the hardest times I have ever seen for the high street and I’m extremely proud of the way our colleagues have retained Prezzo’s position as an appealing, trusted, great value food and drink experience.

“But the reality is that the cost of living crisis, the changing face of the high street and soaring inflation has made it impossible to keep all our restaurants operating profitably.

“We believe the tough decisions we are making today will ensure Prezzo can continue serving communities with high-quality, accessible Italian-inspired meals for many more years to come.”

The hospitality firm fell into administration in late 2020 after the heavy impact of the pandemic, before being snapped up by current private equity owners Cain International.

This latest closure announcement comes two years after the group previously shut 22 restaurants and cut 216 jobs.