The historic Italian restaurant chain Spaghetti House has permanently closed all of its remaining locations after its parent company entered administration, resulting in the redundancy of all 101 employees.
Administration and closures
Lavval Restaurants, the group that owns Spaghetti House, appointed corporate finance specialist BTG as administrators last week. The administrators have since overseen the closure of the chain's five remaining sites, all situated in central London. It is understood that three other branches—located in Mayfair, Goodge Street, and Fitzrovia—had already been shut in recent months.
Reasons cited
Bosses attributed the collapse to higher operational costs and challenging trading conditions exacerbated by what they described as global instability. Luigi Lavarini, executive chairman and chief executive of Lavval Restaurants, said: "After 70 years of serving our loyal customers, it is with a heavy heart that we announce Lavval Restaurants Limited has entered administration and will cease trading."
He added: "Years of increasing costs from the pandemic, Brexit, Government budgets and global instability have created difficult market conditions for hospitality. Balancing these costs with reduced demand and spending from customers as they navigate the rising cost of living has proven too challenging. Despite best efforts and seeking professional advice, we have had to make this difficult but necessary decision to wind down our business."
Historical background
Spaghetti House was founded by Simone Lavarini in 1955 and remained under family ownership until its demise. The chain's Knightsbridge branch gained notoriety in 1975 when three robbers took the restaurant's staff hostage following a failed robbery.
Administrator's statement
Asher Miller, partner at BTG, commented: "After a number of years of challenging market conditions worsened by soaring operational, employment, energy and tax costs affecting the hospitality industry, the directors of Lavval Restaurants approached BTG for advice on their available options. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, the directors made the difficult decision to enter administration and appoint us to manage the controlled wind down of the business."
