In Walloniathe Lunch Gardens of Froyennes, Messancy, Waterloo, Flémalle, Libramont, Wépion and Hannut should close their doors. Finally, six other Lunch Gardens would be closed in Flanders, as well as the Bistro Garden in Tervuren.
Staff on strike in several Lunch Garden restaurants after bankruptcy announcement: “None of the workers received their end-of-year bonus”
Of the 39 Lunch Gardens under its own management, six would be closed and nine would be franchised. The remaining 24 should be taken over by the CIM Capital fund. As for the 22 Lunch Gardens which were until now managed on the franchise model, 13 would cease their activities.
According to the CEO, Stephan Brouwers, around 300 workers out of the 600 at the brand, franchisees not included, could hope to keep their jobs.
-“It was no longer viable”
Management indicates in a press release “be aware of the enormous impact on staff”. “This is an extremely difficult decision, but it is the only way to ensure a sustainable future and retain as many jobs as possible.” Lunch Garden claims to be “working intensively” with the curators and CIM Capital to finalize a recovery plan as quickly as possible.
The company has had a difficult few years recently, particularly struggling to recover from the financial impact of mandatory closures linked to the pandemic. Despite the last two more encouraging years, it remained dependent on financial injections from its main shareholder, the British fund ICG.“which was no longer viable”she notes.
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