Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Papa Johns to shut 43 ‘underperforming’ UK restaurants

Papa Johns is to close 43 UK restaurants (Alamy/PA)
Papa Johns is to close 43 UK restaurants (Alamy/PA)

Pizza chain Papa Johns is to shut 43 restaurants across the UK.

The takeaway business confirmed plans to axe the “underperforming” locations after launching a review at the start of the year.

It will close the restaurants by mid-May following a consultation process, Papa Johns International said.

The company has not confirmed how many staff will be impacted by closures.

The group had previously said it planned “strategic closures” in order to free up money for investment and improving profitability at its remaining UK sites.

It has now identified 43 restaurants as “underperforming locations that are no longer financially viable”.

Chris Phylactou, managing director at Papa Johns UK, said: “Our priority is our team members, who will be fully supported throughout this process.

“Our goal is to work with impacted team members and attempt to find redeployment opportunities where available.

“We understand the impact this will have on our team members and are committed to supporting them during this time.”

Papa Johns said it plans to increase investment in research and technology, such as better utilising customer data, as part of its UK strategy.

It also said it will look at the development of new types of sites beyond traditional restaurants, such as expanding into holiday parks, and is set to “announce other large retail partners in the coming months”.

Mr Phylactou added: “While this is a difficult decision, closing these underperforming locations will give us the opportunity to invest back into the right locations with the right partners for long-term growth.

“We are focused on driving shared profitable growth across our UK restaurants, by continuing to make improvements to our business to ensure that we are well positioned for the future.

“We have been encouraged by the results so far from these initiatives.”