Comptoir earmarks six sites for closure

Comptoir Group has closed four sites and is due to close a further two as a result of the pandemic.

Franchise restaurants in Gatwick and Heathrow operated by The Restaurant Group both closed permanently in March 2020.

Levant was handed back to the landlord in December 2020, and Poland Street closed permanently in May 2021.

Haymarket is due to close permanently in June 2021, and Leeds is due to close on or before April 2022.

They group said it will “continue to review and monitor the position of all our sites within the estate”.

The news comes as the Lebanese restaurant group reports a loss after tax of £8.1m for 2020.

Revenue fall by 62.6% to £12.5m during the full year to December 2020 (2019: £33.4m).

Adjusted EBITDA was down by 73.5% to £1.4m (2019: £5.3m).

Trading since 17 May has been “extremely encouraging”, according to CEO Chaker Hanna.

The group now owns and operates 23 restaurants, with a further 4 franchise restaurants.

Despite the “considerable challenges”, non-executive chairman Richard Kleiner said the 23-strong group had “cemented its strength” during the pandemic.

He said: “I am encouraged by the strong performance of our eat-in business since the limited reopening of sites and with the government roadmap set out and the vaccine roll-out continuing at a pace I’m optimistic for the coming year post-lockdown, and continue to be confident in the public’s appetite to safely socialise and enjoy our family hospitality. We look forward, once it is safe, to fully welcome back our customers and teams.”