In a significant development, Pizza Hut has revealed plans to shut down 68 dine-in restaurants and 11 delivery sites in the UK after the company managing them entered administration today.

The beloved chain, famous for its all-you-can-eat buffets, salad bars, and ice cream stations, will see nearly half of its outlets preserved through a pre-pack administration deal orchestrated by its parent company.

Unfortunately, this move will result in over 1,200 employees losing their jobs as the franchise operator, DC London Pie Ltd, has appointed FTI Consulting to oversee the administration process.

This decision comes just six weeks after HMRC reportedly filed a winding-up petition against the business and follows nine months after the company first entered administration this year.

Reports indicate that area managers in some UK locations instructed staff to leave work this morning.

While the specific list of restaurants facing closure has not been disclosed, Pizza Hut currently operates 132 locations across the nation under a franchise model.

Experts have blamed rising costs, lower consumer spending and competition from delivery apps for the firm’s declining trade.

Pizza Hut itself says its focus is now on ensuring that the remaining 64 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

Pizza Hut Takeaway branches are unaffected as they are part of a separate business.

Shortly after the administration was announced, the company’s global owner Yum! Brands made a deal to save 64 of the at-risk restaurants.

However 68 stores which were not part of the rescue deal will close.

Analysts told the Mail today that the rescue deal earlier this year effectively served to only prolong the inevitable collapse of the restaurant business.

Sit-in restaurants face numerous challenges at present, between rising staff and energy costs, consumers’ dwindling budgets and competition from delivery apps. 

Gary Hemming of abcfinance.co.uk told the Daily Mail: ‘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 £40 million 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 here 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. 

‘These businesses are carrying pre-2020 property portfolios in a post-2020 world.’

He added: ‘For the workers facing uncertainty, this highlights a critical issue: hospitality jobs remain vulnerable despite supposed “rescue deals”. 

‘January’s pre-pack administration clearly failed to address core problems, and now workers are paying the price again.’

A spokesperson for the pizza chain said: ‘Pizza Hut UK announces the acquisition of the Pizza Hut dine-in operations through a pre-packaged administration, after FTI was announced today as administrators of DC London Pie Limited, a franchisee of Pizza Hut. 

‘We are pleased to secure the continuation of 64 sites to safeguard our guest experience and protect the associated jobs. 

‘Approximately 1,277 team members will transfer to the new Yum! equity business under UK TUPE legislation, including above-restaurant leaders and support teams.’ 

More than 1,200 workers at Pizza Huts around the country will lose their jobs as part of the process

Nicolas Burquier, Managing Director International Operating Markets at Pizza Hut, said: ‘This targeted acquisition aims to safeguard our guest experience and protect jobs where possible. 

‘Our immediate priority is operational continuity at the acquired locations and supporting colleagues through the transition.’ 

Some restaurants reportedly closed earlier today after staff arrived at work – allegedly sending workers back home without pay.

A member of staff in Leeds told the Yorkshire Evening Post that they had ‘no idea of what was happening’.

It comes as eight of the city’s 11 restaurants have reportedly closed today.

A source said: ‘We now have multiple teams who are today sat at home, having been sent home directly from work and not being paid for hours they were due to be working today, that have literally no idea of what is happening.

‘On top of that, we have been told not to discuss this with anybody else as to “not panic anybody” yet will not give any details of what’s going on.’

All 139 UK restaurants and around 3,000 jobs were saved at the start of the year when a US private equity company acquired the stores. 

Shortly after the administration was announced, the company’s global owner Yum! Brands made a deal to save 64 of the at-risk restaurants 

That number appears to have shrunk to 132 as of today. It had almost 240 five years ago, when it began announcing closures linked to the Covid pandemic.

US-based private equity firm Directional Capital, which owns DC London Pie, took over the dine-ins in January after the business entered a pre-pack administration.

The previous owner of the UK restaurants, Heart with Smart Limited, went bust after they owed almost £40 million to investor Pricoa Capital, The Business Desk reported. 

Gift card holders may also be impacted by the news, as they can only be used in restaurants and are valid for 12 months.

Pizza Hut was founded in 1958 but did not come to the UK until 1973, when the chain opened its first restaurant in Islington.

During the 1980s, the chain opened an average of one restaurant per week as the fast food market boomed.

In the 1995, the chain launched its stuffed crust pizzas in the UK, following its success in the US.

It was heavily promoted by the company’s corporate and marketing divisions and was the centre of many advertising campaigns.

At its peak the UK had more than 600 Pizza Hut locations, with the brand employing thousands of staff across the country. 

Pizza Hut restaurants have operated in the UK for more than 50 years, with more than 600 restaurants at the height of the firm’s success (pictured: a restaurant in the 1990s)

In recent years, however, the Hut’s piece of the pie has gotten smaller, with Domino’s taking the lead in terms of overall sales. 

Pizza Hut’s rival became the largest pizza seller worldwide in terms of sales at the end of fiscal year 2017, according to SEC filings.

Domino’s global retail sales exceeded $12.2 billion that year, while Pizza Hut, which is owned by Yum Brands, reported global system sales of $12.03 billion over the same time period.

The pizza chain has also been part of some iconic pop culture moments through its advertising campaigns.

In 1996, former England star Gareth Southgate appeared in an advert for the fast food brand, not long after his worst moment in England colours.

Southgate famously missed the last goal of the penalty shoot-out in the semi-finals against Germany in Euro 1996, causing England to crash out the competition.

Shortly after he starred in an advert for Pizza Hut, where he sat in the restaurant with a brown paper bag on his head, along 1990 penalty missers Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle.

The ad showed Pearce shout ‘Miss, Miss, Miss’ at a waitress, before giggling ‘that’s pan pizza, unless i’m not mis-taken’. 

He then adds ‘come on Gareth, it only took me six years to get over it’ as the then centre-back lifts the paper bag off to eat the meal.

‘Thanks a lot boys, I feel a lot better now,’ he says, before walking into the wall, which causes Pearce to joke ‘now he’s hit the post’. 

A year earlier in 1995, Formula One became the face of Pizza Hut’s ad campaign, with driver Damon Hill featuring alongside legendary F1 commentator Murray Walker. 

In the advert, Walker and Damon Hill enter a Pizza Hut restaurant but Murray calls the action as if commentating on a race.

As Walker finishes his stuffed crust pizza he says ‘and Hill finishes second again’, prompting Hill to grab Walker by his shirt.

‘I had the uncomfortable job of grabbing Murray by the lapels and giving him a shake,’ said Hill of the advert. ‘He was a much better actor than me.