Prezzo joins list of restaurant closures

Italian restaurant chain Prezzo will not reopen their Hertford eaterie, joining a growing list of casual dining outlets leaving the town.

Prezzo in Fore Street

The restaurant closed at the end of March when the Covid lockdown was imposed and has not re-opened since.

Prezzo's website says the Hertford site will reopen in "late Summer". However, two planning applications have been submitted to the District Council to convert the upper floors to residential use, and the ground floor and basement to a Physiotherapy clinic.

The Essex based company is owned by private equity investment firm TPG Capital. The chain also has outlets in Ware, Stevenage, Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City.

The closure comes after ASK Italian confirmed they would not be reopening and Cafe Rouge closed their restaurant in Parliament Square when owner The Casual Dining Group went in to administration.

Many restaurant chains were already in trouble before the lockdown, having been loaded with debt following a private equity-fuelled boom five years ago. At least 15 national brands have either gone in to administration or been put up for sale in the past five months.

The town's independent restaurants meanwhile have mostly reopened, with the likes of Dinnio, Veyso's and Oishii benefitting from the Eat Out To Help Out scheme.

Lussmanns have recetly announced that they will be reopening in the town in early November.