Wednesday 29 April 2020

Best of luck with that, you insufferable twats.

From The Telegraph:

A landlord is taking legal action to shut down Pizza Express over unpaid debts, sparking new fears for the future of the ailing chain.

Grainrent has filed a winding-up petition against the business in the courts as high street tensions grow amid a collapse in business during the lockdown.

Unless Pizza Express pays back what it owes, this process would normally lead to a hearing on whether to liquidate the company - putting as many as 14,000 jobs at risk in 627 restaurants.

Gainrent's parent firm London and Cambridge Properties said it remains open to compromise with the chain.

The legal action began on Friday ahead of new rules that came into effect on Monday banning the use of winding-up petitions if a company cannot pay rent bills due to coronavirus.

7 comments:

Ralph Musgrave said...

I'm not clear on exactly who the "insufferable twats" are: the landlord or Pizza Express or someone else. As an eccentric, I always like to be kept abrest of who's an insufferable twat.

mombers said...

I guess they've got a number of other businesses champing at the bit to take on the premises?

Bayard said...

M, they wouldn't need to if the idea of this action is simply to send a message to their other tenants, "Pay up or else". PE weren't paying them anything anyway, so kicking them out is not a loss of revenue.

ontheotherhand said...

Pizza Express has been repackaged and sold and franchised and bought back so many times it's impossible to know who the twats are. Generally when the pizzas shrunk, it was about to be sold, and when they were restored, new owners where trying to win customers back.

James Higham said...

Grainrent or Gainrent?

Mark Wadsworth said...

RM, the landlords. Unless you can answer Mombers' question, in which case get on the phone to the landlords and ask for a commission.

M, exactly.

B, the other tenants won't be paying either. We need Mike Ashley to spear head a commercial tenants' strike.

OTOH, it has, hasn't it? I have noticed worse or better food, depending on take overs (at its best, it was brilliant).

Mark Wadsworth said...

JH, well spotted, I just assumed I had misread and I couldn't be bothered to check carefully.