Pizza chain Papa Johns to shut Horsham restaurant

The venue is one of 43 across the country – including another in East Grinstead – that is to shut.

The company announced in January that it planned to make ‘strategic closures of low-performing restaurants’ to drive profitability of its remaining UK stores and strengthen its franchisee base.

Today (Tuesday) it confirmed that the Horsham branch in Queen Street will be among those closing, along with a branch in King Street, East Grinstead.

It says it will close the restaurants by mid-May following a staff consultation process.

In a statement, the company said: “After a comprehensive review of its corporate owned restaurants in the UK, the company has identified 43 underperforming locations that are no longer financially viable. It proposes to close these locations by mid-May after consulting with impacted team members.”

And Papa Johns UK managing director Chris Phylactou 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.

“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.”

The company says it plans to increase investment in research and technology, targeted marketing and product innovation with ‘better and fresher ingredients, new menu ranges and more value offerings.’

Have you read? Horsham town centre shop to move to new premises after 30 years

It also has plans to extend its traditional stores into holiday parks and join with other ‘large retail partners.’

It says it “will continue to work with like-minded franchise partners to open profitable restaurants in locations that best meet the needs of consumers.”