Tasty PLC (LON:TAST) has let go 284 staff members, accounting for 32% of its workforce.
The owner of Wildwood and Dim T restaurants is planning a phased reopening of “a limited number of sites” over the next few weeks but anticipates a drop in footfall due to restrictions to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
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The firm added it is exploring ways to cut costs, including potential new debt or equity capital, as well as discussing terms with landlords and trade creditors.
A week of redundancies
But AIM-listed Tasty is only the latest UK firm to announce redundancies this week, with Boris Johnson imploring companies to “keep supporting your workers with the furloughing scheme” adding “it is much better now to wait for times to get better rather than laying people off”.
On Tuesday he said that the current government plans to “deliver jobs, jobs, jobs”.
Tatsy competitor Casual Dining Group, owner of Café Rouge and Bella Italia, went into administration with 1,900 staff losing their jobs, while operator of eateries in airports and train stations SSP Group plc (LON:SSPG) is mulling over 5,000 cuts.
There were several casualties in the retail sector, with John Lewis announcing permanent closures of an undisclosed number of department stores, while Harrods said up to 700 workers would be let go.
Shirtmaker TM Lewin is to close all its shops to go online-only, affecting most of its 700 employees, and Topshop owner Arcadia set to remove 500 head office workers.
The battered travel industry is to see 15,000 staff let go by Airbus alongside 1,300 crew and 727 pilots by easyJet PLC (LON:EZJ).
In the banking sector, 300 roles are at risk at Virgin Money, Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank.
Shares in Tasty rose 2% to 2.9p on Friday afternoon.