TRG to put Chiquito and Food & Fuel into administration

27 March 2020

The Restaurant Group (TRG) has filed notice to put Chiquito into administration.

A spokesperson for TRG said: “As we announced in our update to the market on 18 March, Covid-19 has had an immediate and significant impact on trading across the group. We have conducted a review of the performance of our business divisions, with a particular focus on the expected future cash generation profile of each of our business units."

The group has forecast that Chiquito and also their London-based gastro-pub and café brand Food & Fuel, will both achieve “negative EBITDA in the financial year ending 27 December 2020” and as a result has taken the” very difficult decision” to file a notice of intention to appoint an administrator for Chiquito and appoint administrators for Food & Fuel.

The administration of Chiquito will permanently close the majority of the 81 Tex-Mex brand’s sites. However, around 20 Chiquito concession sites in airports, which are not part of the limited company, will be unaffected.

A holding statement on Chiquito's website reads: "We are absolutely heartbroken to announce that all our restaurants will be closing tonight until further notice – including those offering home delivery."