A BELOVED family favourite restaurant chain is officially closing the doors of another branch for the final time today.
The closure comes as a shock for fans of the popular food spot despite 18 other eateries under the same chain also shutting for good recently.
Well-known Italian restaurant chain Wildwood announced it is closing down its restaurant in Chelsmford at the end of business tonight.
The restaurant originally opened up in the city back in 2010 before it was moved to The Meadows Retail park where it has stayed till today.
Wildwood Chelmsford shared the closure with a statement saying: “With a heavy heart, we must inform you that our Chelmsford branch is closing from today, Sunday March 2 2025.
"We have taken the difficult decision to permanently close our doors.”
It is still unclear what will replace the restaurant.
There are still 30 Wildwood restaurants in the UK with another six also in Essex.
These include ones in Braintree, Epping, Billericay, Hornchurch, Chelmsford, Brentwood.
The closure comes after the restaurant’s parent company, Tasty, announced last year that it would shut 20 restaurants after a difficult financial year.
In June, Tasty reported revenue of £46.9million in the year to the end of December 2023, a rise of 6.5% on the previous year.
But rising costs of food, energy and wages continued to impact it, along with with fewer people visiting due to the cost off living crisis.
It comes as another beloved Italian restaurant once described as a "diamond" by diners suddenly shut its doors after nearly 50 years of operations.
Santoro in Yarm, North Yorkshire, announced on its website that it had permanently closed its doors after a "wonderful 45 years of business."
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE
Many Food and drink chains have been struggling in recently as the cost of living has led to fewer people spending on eating out.
Businesses had struggled to bounce back after the pandemic, only to then be hit with soaring energy bills and other pressures from inflation.
Multiple chains have been affected, resulting in big-name brands like Wetherspoons and Frankie & Benny's closing branches.
Craig Rachel, director at financial adviser AlixPartners, explained what had pushed businesses to close sites in 2024.
He said: "Restaurants have seen the accumulation of external pressures in 2024, including rising utility costs, food prices and labour costs.
"Although some of these factors have stabilised over recent months, the overall impact is significant and will be exacerbated again in 2025 following the budget announcements, and this has all affected profitability.
"Some restaurant groups have been able to mitigate this to a certain extent through operational efficiencies and pricing, but consumer spending in the sector is under pressure meaning price measures are often unable to fully bridge the gap."
Comments
Leave a Comment