Edinburgh Frankie and Benny's branches among four city restaurants believed to be permanently closing after lockdown

The Evening News has seen an email sent to staff at Frankie and Benny's and Chiquito outlets in Fountain Park and the Frankie and Benny's and Filling Station eateries in the Omni Centre, saying redundancies will begin from next Monday.

The branches are owned by Restaurant Group, one of the country's biggest restaurant operators.

A former Frankie and Benny's employee at one of the affected Edinburgh branches estimates that between 50 and 60 jobs could be affected in total.

The former staff member, who does not want to be named, says they have been shown emails from people working in all four of these restaurants confirming their closure, including from general managers.

The email, from the company's 'people director' Jacqui McManus, says that while they are keen to reopen as many restaurants as possible this year, a "large number of locations are no longer viable and will remain closed permanently."

The email said proposed closures were announced last year and again in February during a results presentation, with Covid-19 now "significantly impacting" the company's ability to trade profitably.

It continues: "We need to advise you that we have taken the tough decision to permanently close the restaurant you work in.

"We are proposing to commence a redundancy process across our closed businesses from Monday 8th June, we will contact you again to confirm the timings for your restaurant and also outline the full process and next steps.

"This decision does not by any means reflect your performance within the company and we appreciate your loyalty and commitment to the business. We will do our upmost to ensure you are fully supported during this very difficult time."

A spokesperson for Restaurant Group was unable to confirm whether the four restaurants concerned would be closing, although a decision has been made on which stores will close.

According to other media reports, the manager at the Fort Kinnaird branch of Chiquito has also said that their restaurant is not going to reopen.

The Restaurant Group has about 600 sites overall across the UK and is looking at closing between 100 and 120 sites, with up to 3,000 jobs affected. Most of these are Frankie and Benny's restaurants.

The dining group said last year that it would close up to 150 sites in its leisure division over the next five years, but the pandemic has accelerated this process.