UK-based pizzeria chain Franco Manca is closing around 16 of its restaurants, The Independent reported.

The move is expected to impact around 225 employees.

Specialising in Neapolitan sourdough pizza, the company operates around 70 sites in the UK and is owned by The Fulham Shore, which also runs The Real Greek restaurant chain.

The owner told the publication that a “minority of its sites” were “no longer sustainable”, linking the move in part to “disproportionately high” UK taxes and the absence of business rates relief for restaurant operators.

Fulham Shore chief executive Marcel Khan has confirmed that a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) is also being prepared for Franco Manca.

The move follows the appointment of advisers two months ago to assess strategic options for the pizza brand, including a potential sale or a wider restructuring.

Fulham Shore is also understood to be continuing to examine plans for The Real Greek.

Khan was quoted by The Independent as saying: “Even restaurant businesses that are doing all the right things from a customer and operational perspective are not immune to widely publicised pressures impacting the hospitality industry.

“This includes significant increases in national insurance and the national living wage in recent history, as well as a lack of business rates relief for the restaurant sector and disproportionately high VAT in the UK compared with Europe.

“This is why we have taken the difficult decision to undertake a CVA for Franco Manca, which will see a minority proportion of our restaurants closing where they are no longer sustainable in this cost environment.”

Khan added that it will provide support to the affected employees in “every way that we can”.

The group was acquired in 2023 by Japan’s Toridoll restaurant group, backed by investment company Capdesia, in a deal worth £93.4m.