Brixton reportedly on the list as Franco Manca announces the closure of 16 restaurants
Founded in Brixton back in 2008, Franco Manca has grown into a nationwide chain of 70 pizza restaurants, but it’s been confirmed that it intends to close around 16 restaurants …
Black News 
Founded in Brixton back in 2008, Franco Manca has grown into a nationwide chain of 70 pizza restaurants, but it’s been confirmed that it intends to close around 16 restaurants – with one source citing that the Brixton branch is on the list to be shuttered.
Franco Manca was founded in 2008 by Giuseppe Mascoli and Bridget Hugo, taking over the popular Franco’s pizzeria in Brixton’s Market Row, which had been dishing up affordable pizzas since 1986.
In early 2024 they moved out of their original unit in Brixton Market into the larger premises on the corner of Atlantic Road and Electric Lane (formerly Wahaca and before that, the much missed Brady’s pub).
Private Equity piles in
In March 2015, Franco Manca was flogged off to The Fulham Shore, which also owns “The Real Greek.”
Eight years later, Fulham Shore sold Franco Manca and The Real Greek to Toridoll the Japanese owner of Marugame Udon for £93.4m
In a statement, Khan, chief executive of Fulham Shore, said:
“Even restaurant businesses that are doing all the right things from a customer and operational perspective are not immune to widely publicised pressures impacting the hospitality industry.
“This includes significant increases in national insurance and the national living wage in recent history, as well as a lack of business rates relief for the restaurant sector and disproportionately high VAT in the UK compared with Europe.”
“As a result of these external cost pressures, we have to make sure that we are putting our business on a sustainable footing for long-term growth and development.
“This is why we have taken the difficult decision to undertake a CVA for Franco Manca, which will see a minority proportion of our restaurants closing where they are no longer sustainable in this cost environment.
“We are deeply saddened by the closures of a minority proportion of our restaurants, and will support our affected team members throughout this process in every way that we can.”
[Note: the only source we could find for the Brixton branch closing was the accursed Daily Mail]
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