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American pizza fans in London, while yesterday we brought you the good news that Little Caesars is opening in London, today the news is not so positive. Papa Johns is to close a tenth of its UK restaurants, including 16 locations in the capital. You’ll have to get your slices from somewhere else soon.
Which Papa Johns are shutting in London?
Here’s the full list of Papa John closures in London:
- Bromley
- Cricklewood
- East Dulwich
- Harringay
- Hendon
- Mottingham
- Northwood Hills
- Peckham
- Penge
- Putney
- Ruislip
- Stoke Newington
- Upminster
- Whitton
- Wimbledon
When will the pizza restaurants close?
Papa Johns International said the takeaways would close by mid-May.
Will more Papa Johns close?
We can’t say either way at this point. For now, Papa Johns will only close the 43 of its 450 UK sites that it has already announced. The closures follow a review of the business which identified sites that were ‘no longer financially viable’. Papa Johns will have to continue to monitor the success of its remaining UK takeaways before deciding to close more.
There are also plans for Papa Johns to open more restaurants in holiday parks and retail parks in the coming months, so it's not curtains for the chain just yet.
What’s been said about the closures so far?
Chris Phylactou, managing director at Papa Johns UK, 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. Strategic closures were previously confirmed by Papa Johns to improve profitability and free up money.
‘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.’
Craving a slice? Here's our list of the best pizza in London.
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