Pizza Hut will close 68 restaurants and 11 delivery sites in the UK after the firm operating them fell into administration yesterday.
Almost as many restaurants will be saved in a pre-pack administration deal led by the chain’s parent company.
However, more than 1,200 people will lose their jobs after franchise operator DC London Pie Ltd appointed FTI Consulting as administrators.
It comes six weeks after HMRC reportedly filed a winding-up petition against the business – and nine months after the firm had entered administration for the first time this year.
Bosses in some areas reportedly sent staff home yesterday morning, but the list of restaurants set to close has not been released.
Pizza Hut operates 132 eateries across the UK through a franchise agreement.
Experts have blamed rising costs, lower consumer spending and competition from delivery apps for the company’s declining trade.
Pizza Hut itself says its focus is now on ensuring that its remaining restaurants can continue to trade.
Pizza Hut’s UK restaurants have gone into administration today, with hundreds of jobs at 75 eat-in locations at risk
Takeaway branches are unaffected as they are part of a separate business.
Shortly after the administration process was announced, the firm’s global owner Yum! Brands made a deal to save 64 restaurants, preserving 1,277 jobs.
But the 68 sites which are not part of the agreement will close.
Analysts said a rescue deal earlier this year effectively served only to prolong the inevitable collapse of the business.
Gary Hemming, of abcfinance.co.uk, said: ‘Pizza Hut’s second collapse in just nine months is a stark warning for the hospitality sector.
‘When a business enters administration twice within a year, with £40million in unpaid debt and an HMRC winding-up petition, it signals fundamental structural problems that quick-fix rescue deals simply can’t solve.
‘The real story isn’t just about Pizza Hut, it’s about the brutal mathematics facing casual dining chains. With energy costs up 300 per cent, labour shortages pushing wages higher and customers pivoting to delivery apps, the traditional restaurant model is broken.’
A spokesman for the chain said: ‘We are pleased to secure the continuation of 64 sites to safeguard our guest experience and protect the associated jobs.’
The news comes as a report found the UK’s tax system is both uncompetitive and anti-growth.
The 2025 edition of the International Tax Competitiveness Index (ITCI), published by US-based Tax Foundation, ranked the UK 32nd out of 38 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the same overall position as last year and ahead of only France and Italy among major competitors.
Analysis by the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS), published alongside the Index, highlights the negative impact of last year’s Budget, with a rise in the higher rate of capital gains tax and changes to employer’s National Insurance pushing the UK down five places on the Index’s individual taxation measure.
The CPS argues Britain should abolish stamp duty on land and shares. Daniel Herring, head of economic and fiscal policy at the CPS, said: ‘The UK’s continued lack of tax competitiveness would be a concern for any Chancellor ahead of a Budget where tax hikes are widely mooted.’
