A MAJOR fast-food outlet with 1,000 restaurants is shutting one of its branches for good.
KFC has confirmed the closure of its Linthorpe Road restaurant in Middlesbrough.
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The chain has been operating from the premises on Linthorpe Road since 2015.
A spokesperson for KFC said: “We serve our delicious finger-lickin’ chicken at over 1,000 restaurants across the UK and we’re constantly looking out for new opportunities.
“Since 2018, we’ve opened over 200 restaurants and are looking to open many more!
“Sometimes we have to close a coop to make room for others but we’re still always close by.”
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Fans of the restaurant have been taking to social media to share their disappointment at the closure.
One said: “No more late night KFC”.
Another person said: “It’s another nail in the coffin for the town centre.”
A third added: “Never a vote of confidence when a major brand pulls out of the town centre”.
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The Middlesbrough branch is not the only closure in recent weeks for the fast-food giant.
At the beginning of January, it closed down one of its restaurants in Bradford leaving only six KFCs left in the Bradford district.
Also, just last week it confirmed it will be closing its branch on Livingstone Street in Glasgow on January 21.
Just last month the company announced it will take over existing KFC outlets that are owned by the EG Group – a franchisee and sister company of supermarket Asda.
There are 218 locations in the UK and Ireland which will be run by the company directly by this summer.
Collectively these branches employ 7,800 staff.
It comes as the chain plans to open 500 new KFC restaurants around the country over the long term.
What about other closures?
Many restaurant chains have been struggling to survive since Covid shut down the hospitality industry.
Since then, rising energy costs and rents have just made it harder for businesses to bounce back.
Shoppers just don’t have the spare cash to spend on eating out after covering the basic cost of living such as rent and food.
This year has already seen many restaurants and pubs close down for good.
Tony Rodd, an ex-Masterchef finalist closed his restaurant “immediately” after its monthly energy bill tripled to an eye-watering sum.
Also, celebrity chef Simon Rimmer announced that he had made the heartbreaking decision to close his restaurant after 33 years.
A seaside chippy with the “best fish and chips in the world” also shut down for good after 62 years in the business.
Meanwhile, a family-favourite pizza chain revealed exclusively to The Sun it would be closing as many as 100 locations.
It is not only hospitality struggling either, retailers are having it as equally tough with stores disappearing from the high street weekly.
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Retailers including Co-op, Clintons and HMV will all welcome in customers for the final time within weeks.
We have a full list of major high street retailers set to close 10 stores between then by the end of the month.
