Fulham Shore, the private equity owner of Franco Manca and Real Greek, has reported a £14.2m pre-tax loss for the year to March 2025.
The loss is nearly triple the £5m deficit recorded in the previous financial year, according to Companies House filings that lay bare the scale of the group’s struggles.
Revenue grew by 72 per cent to £1.7m, but that progress was overwhelmed by significant restructuring and write-down costs that hit the company hard.
Auditors attributed an £11m write-down of the company’s value to “adverse trading performance,” compounding pressure on the business during a turbulent period.
The accounts also show £442,000 in restructuring costs, meaning exceptional items totalling around £12m weighed heavily on the group’s overall financial position.
Marcel Khan, who had served as chief executive, resigned from his post at the end of May following a dramatic period of closures and disposals.
In April, Fulham Shore launched a sweeping restructuring of Franco Manca that resulted in 16 locations closing, including its original site in Brixton Market, leaving 225 workers without jobs.
Khan, while still chief executive, blamed Chancellor Rachel Reeves for burdening the hospitality industry with what he described as “disproportionately high” taxes.
Also in April, the group placed the Real Greek chain into administration, saying the move would allow it to focus on the “significant growth potential” of the Franco Manca brand.
Karali Group, the owners of Cote Brasserie, acquired 19 of the 28 Real Greek outlets, with the remaining sites falling into administration.
Fulham Shore has since taken on a £21m loan from its Japanese parent company Toridoll, as well as a £12m credit facility from HSBC to support the turnaround of its remaining pizza restaurants.
The company says the disposals have placed the remaining Franco Manca business on the “strongest possible footing to realise its long-term potential” going forward.
Fulham Shore added it is making “strong progress against several key strategic initiatives and performance indicators, driving improved operational discipline, stronger shift execution and an enhanced guest experience.”
New chief executive Colin Berry acknowledged the difficulties, saying: “Despite delivering clear and sustained improvements across the metrics that matter most to consumers, the results, which occur from a period prior to our restructuring, highlight the challenges facing the sector.”
Berry added: “As an industry, we are facing an operating environment with elevated cost of inflation and VAT that is significantly higher than our international peers, which presents a significant issue to hospitality businesses — even for those like ours that have delivered meaningful progress.”
Franco Manca’s difficulties reflect a broader pattern across British hospitality, with industry leaders increasingly lobbying government to cut VAT on restaurants and pubs from 20 to 10 per cent.
That campaign, led by celebrity chef Tom Kerridge and backed by Greene King and Hilton hotels, has gained momentum, with some figures including Kerridge endorsing Andy Burnham’s bid to become Prime Minister on the basis of his hospitality tax pledges.