There is uncertainty over the future of Swindon's Frankie and Benny's restaurant after its owners announced 35 of its restaurants will close.

The Restaurant Group (TRG), which also owns Chiquitos and Wagamama, has cautioned over job losses after revealing plans to shut several branches.

Swindon has one Frankie & Benny’s restaurant which is located at Greenbridge Retail Park, and it remains uncertain whether this store will be one of the 35 axed.

TRG said the closures would help it shore up cash after reporting widening losses over 2022.

Andy Hornby, TRG’s chief executive, said: “Every year a number of leases come up for potential renewal, so the vast majority is where we are going to selectively exit a number of those, rather than renew the lease for another five or 10 years.

“We will manage that on a localised basis, and the teams will be the first people to know.

“But we are not closing any sites that we think have got long-term profitable futures.”

Up to three of the sites will be converted to Wagamama over the next two years, and the rest will be sold or the leases will be exited or left to expire.

The company, which has about 18,000 staff, has already cut a raft of loss-making restaurants over the period, including closing the majority of its Chiquito restaurants at the start of the pandemic to bolster its finances.

One of these locations was in Swindon, next door to Frankie & Benny’s at Greenbridge. It was replaced by Fiesta de Cuba.

Meanwhile, Wagamama’s sales increased by nearly a tenth last year, leaving TRG aiming to open five to six new restaurants a year for the next three years.

Russ Mould, an investment director AJ Bell said: “The Restaurant Group is already announcing plans to close more sites in its leisure division – the Frankie & Benny’s and Chiquito chains which offer generic Italian and Mexican food to a captive audience of shoppers and cinemagoers.

“However, the question may well be asked, why not spin off, sell off or in some way get rid of this part of the business entirely, along with the other bits, to focus on Wagamama which is clearly a restaurant brand with genuine appeal.

“Rename the business as Wagamama, clear out the rest, and you would have a streamlined and focused operation which might have more appeal to investors.”