REMOVALS vans have been emptying a former restaurant in Barrow which closed last week.
The Restaurant Group, the owner of the Frankie & Benny's and Chiquito chains, announced last month its plans to sell or close 33 outlets.
Its Barrow chain, at Hindpool Retail Park in Hindpool Road, closed two weeks later with a final trading day on Sunday, September 18, and removals vans are at the premises today emptying the restaurant of furniture.
READ MORE: Barrow restaurant to close at the end of this week
Restaurant Group, which runs 500 theme restaurants, said it had been a "challenging trading period".
It said its Frankie & Benny's chain had "suffered due to insufficient focus on value, unsuccessful menu development and poor operational execution". Those outlets had lost customers after "significant price increases and the removal of popular value offers".
The company said it was "taking action" to change this, adding it would stick with the Frankie & Benny's brand as it remained "relevant and popular".
Around half of the restaurant closures planned would be across the Frankie and Benny's chain, leaving it with around 235 outlets.
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