Many United Kingdom seafood restaurants have been forced to close their doors due to COVID-19 dining restrictions. Joining that list is YO! Sushi, which said it is closing 19 restaurants and laying off 250 employees.
The YO! Sushi closures are part of a company voluntary arrangement allowing it to shut loss-making sites, the BBC reported.
"While we have already taken measures to reduce costs, rents remain an issue. In the current climate, it's just not viable for us to keep any sites that no longer perform,” Yo! Sushi CEO Richard Hodgson said.
And, while restaurants have been bolstered temporarily by the government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme, they are concerned about how they will stay in business after the program is over.
Restaurants and pubs have served up more than 35 million half-price meals under the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, the Independent reported.
Restaurants take 50 percent off the bill for meals ordered on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, up to a discount of GBP 10 (USD 13, EUR 11) per person, and then are reimbursed by the government.
Many of the 85,000 participating eateries have sent in reimbursement requests – to the tune of GBP 180 million (USD 236 million, EUR 200 million) to date.
However, the program terminates at the end of August, and operators have missed out on most of the busiest sales weeks of the summer. That leaves them in a potentially precarious financial position in the leaner winter months, according to the Independent.
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