An Italian restaurant chain has closed several branches after a ‘challenging’ start to the year.

Tasty, the restaurant firm behind Italian chain Wildwood, has revealed the 14 sites across England and Wales that have shut their doors this week as part of a major restructuring plan.

A spokesperson for the firm said the move – which was initially said to involve the closure of around 20 of its 43 branches – follows a “challenging” start to the year.

The Wildwood restaurant on West Common in Gerrards Cross is the only venue in Buckinghamshire owned by the group.

However, an employee at the Gerrards Cross branch told the Free Press today (April 12) that there were “definitely” no plans for the local Italian to close its doors.

The employee was adamant that the Bucks restaurant is “not at risk” despite Tasty’s plans to have only 30 sites - including its six Dim-T pan-Asian restaurants - open by the end of 2024.

The 14 Wildwood branches that have already ceased operation were named yesterday and include branches in Bicester, Cambridge, Kingston and Kettering.

The Gerrards Cross branch was not among the venues named.

Tasty, which also runs two non-trading sites and three sub-let venues, is entering into a £750,000 loan agreement with Bet365 shareholder Will Roseff to fund its restructuring project.

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The firm’s spokesperson said: “The use of a restructuring plan is considered the most effective means to reorganise the group to return it to profitability and secure its long-term future.”

They added that Tasty’s financial performance during 2023 had been “inhibited by a tail of underperforming sites”.

Bosses expect the plan to improve earnings by up to £2.1 million by the 2025 financial year, both through restaurant closures and other cost-saving measures.

The proposals will be circulated by Tasty’s creditors before a court hearing later this month.

Other large-scale chains have also struggled over the last few years from the coupled effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

The coffee chain Costa cited “high rent” among the reasons for leaving Gerrards Cross back in January and the bar chain Revolution also closed its Beaconsfield site at the beginning of the year due to tough economic conditions.

Rob Pitcher, CEO of the Revolution Bars Group, said the closure was in spite of the group experiencing its “best festive trading period for four years”.

He said Revolution’s “younger customers” were “still feeling the disproportionate effect of the cost-of-living crisis” and cited the increase to the national living wage that comes into force this month as another reason for the closure.