Spaghetti House has closed its five remaining London sites in Marble Arch, Carnaby, Oxford Street, Kensington and Soho, making all 101 staff members redundant after its parent company moved into administration. The restaurant chain, founded in 1955 and long run by the Lavarini family, said it would cease trading after more than 70 years in business.
Lavval Restaurants appointed BTG as administrators on May 6 to help wind down operations. Luigi Lavarini said the business could no longer absorb the strain of rising expenses, difficult trading conditions and global instability, saying years of increasing costs from the pandemic, Brexit, government budgets and other pressures had left hospitality operators facing a harsher market. He added that reduced demand and weaker customer spending, as households battled the rising cost of living, had proved too much.
The closure marks the end of a chain that was once a familiar part of London’s dining landscape. It is understood Spaghetti House had already shut three other premises in Mayfair, Goodge Street and Fitzrovia in recent months, shrinking the business before this week’s decision to close the last five branches.
The move also ends a family ownership story that began when Simone Lavarini founded Spaghetti House in 1955. Luigi Lavarini said: “After 70 years of serving our loyal customers, it is with a heavy heart that we announce Lavval Restaurants Limited has entered administration and will cease trading.” He said the company had sought professional advice before making what he called a difficult but necessary decision to wind down the business.
Asher Miller said the directors of Lavval Restaurants approached BTG for advice on their available options after several years of difficult trading, worsened by soaring operational, employment, energy and tax costs across hospitality. He said the directors then made the hard choice to enter administration and appoint BTG to manage a controlled wind down of the business. The decision leaves no London branches open for a brand that once carried wider recognition, including the Knightsbridge site that made headlines in 1975 when three robbers held staff hostage after a bungled robbery. Spaghetti House Restaurant chain shuts all sites after parent enters administration.
