Restaurants and jobs to be lost

The 54-year-old Little Chef roadside restaurant chain has announced that 67 restaurants and 600 jobs are being axed in a bid to rekindle the firm’s dire financial status. With “Charlie”, the Little Chef mascot, not being as well-seen on the UK’s motorways starting this month and into next, the firm is taking severe action in reducing the financial hemorrhaging that has been seen in recent years.

The chairman of the group, Graham Sims, is taking the lead in reducing the firm’s expenditure on 18 loss-making outlets this month and 49 in February. Since being saved from administration five years ago by RCapital the company tried to continue building the brand back up with the Channel 4 show Big Chef Takes on Little Chef, where top-celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal, added new cuisine the menus but alas the promotional activity simply hasn’t been enough for the ageing brand.

Graham Sims started in 1997 working for Little Chef, flipping burgers, and climbed the rankings to chairman, but with the soft approach not working, drastic measures are now being taken to slice spending and costs, in order to keep the most profitable outlets running smoothly. The main competition that has made the dire sales for the restaurants is down to motorway service stations offering more variety but even the “Grab and Go Takeaway” method akin to a fast-food joint has helped in the short term but other restaurants are simply dragging the financials down.

Sims has high hopes for the brand over the next few years, where 40-50 branches will be opened as franchises and running a different business model will hopefully help the group get back to where it once was. With quality menus, quick takeaways and revamped restaurants, the chairman has big plans for the company and will develop more profitable areas and sites around the UK.