Pizza hut restaurants collapse into administration as 68 branches at risk of closure

Pizza Hut could lose as many as 68 restaurants while also putting hundreds of jobs at risk as the chain goes into administration. The restaurant's UK owner, DC London Pie Limited, appointed FTI Consulting as administrators on Monday following mounting financial pressures.

Within hours, Pizza Hut's global parent company Yum! Brands, which also owns KFC and Taco Bell, intervened with a last-minute rescue deal to save part of the operation.

We'll be bringing you the very latest updates, pictures and video on this breaking news story.For the latest news and breaking news visit: [https://www.express.co.uk/news](https://www.express.co.uk/news "‌")

Stay up to date with all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you.Follow our social media accounts here on [facebook.com/DailyExpress](http://facebook.com/DailyExpress "‌") and @daily_express.

The agreement ensures the continuation of 64 dine-in restaurants, securing around 2,259 jobs that will now transfer to a new Yum! equity business. However, the remaining 68 locations were not included in the deal and now face an uncertain future.

A spokesperson for the pizza chain said: "Today we announce 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 dine-in restaurants.

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

Pizza Hut's delivery and takeaway branches are unaffected by the administration and will continue operating as normal.

The administration follows weeks of financial strain for DC London Pie Limited, which was hit last month with a winding-up petition from HMRC over unpaid tax liabilities, a legal move typically used when a business owes more than £750 and fails to settle or negotiate payment.