Richmond's Pizza Express restaurant will remain open.

A full list of the 73 branches it plans to close has been released as the company aims to move onto a more stable financial footing.

The closures involve 1,100 lost jobs and come as Pizza Express launched a company voluntary arrangement in a bid to restructure the group and keep it afloat.

In a statement the company said most of its restaurants had traded profitably before lockdown, but their earnings had been declining over the past three years.

A collapse in earnings due to lockdown, coupled with the cost of reopening restaurants and uncertainty over the economy, meant that the rents paid on premises were too much for Pizza Express to bear.

It will keep 381 of its UK restaurants open.

Pizza Express UK and Ireland managing director Zoe Bowley said: "The announcement of the CVA proposal today (Tuesday) follows a period of constructive dialogue with the British Property Federation and a broad range of our landlords.

"We have taken onboard their feedback and accommodated their requests as far as possible.

"Unfortunately, the impact of the global pandemic has meant that we have had to make some incredibly tough decisions to safeguard PizzaExpress for the long term.

"Today we have confirmed that 73 of our pizzerias are proposed to close permanently. In most cases, there is another Pizza Express nearby, either already open or reopening soon, to welcome our customers.

"Our focus is on our people whose jobs are impacted and we will be doing everything we can either to redeploy them or to support them in finding roles elsewhere.

"Hard as this process is, it will protect the jobs of over 9,000 of our colleagues and provide a strong footing for Pizza Express to meet future challenges and opportunities."

Pizza Express indicated earlier this month that the future of restaurants already open were secure.

List of branches to close

Aberdeen - Belmont Street

Aylesbury

Barnstaple - Three Tuns

Biggleswade

Billericay

Birmingham - Corporation Street

Birmingham - Mailbox

Bournemouth - Post Office Road

Bramhall

Bristol - Berkeley Square

Bristol - Regent Street

Bromsgrove

Bruton Place

Charlotte Street

Chippenham

Dalton Park

Darlington

Dudley - Merry Hill

Earls Court - Earls Court Road

Edinburgh - Holyrood

Formby

Fulham Palace Road

Glasgow – Princes Square

Glossop

Gosforth

Grantham

Halifax

Hampstead

Hatch End

Hereford

Heswall

Ipswich - Lloyds Avenue

Leeds - Crown Street

Leeds - Horsforth

Ludlow

Lymington

Melton Mowbray

Midhurst

Milton Keynes

Moseley

New Brighton

Newcastle

Newport - Isle of Wight

Newport - South Wales

Northallerton

Nottingham - Goosegate

O2 Finchley

Orpington

Oxford - Oxford Castle

Poole

Port Solent

Ramsgate

Reading - St Mary's Butts

Scarborough

Sheffield - Devonshire Street

Sheffield The Moor

Shirley

Southport - Old Bank

Stafford

Staines

Stoke

Stourbridge

Sudbury

Torquay

Uxbridge

Wakefield

Walsall

Wapping

Wardour Street

Weston-super-Mare

Whiteley Village

Whitstable

Wrexham

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