There are 454 Pizza Express restaurants in the UK. However, 73 are closing. This equates to about 16 percent of UK eateries ran by the company.
Pizza Express previous revealed it was looking into the worst performing locations in the UK.
The move is going to impact 1,100 members of staff.
Pizza Express is working with UK&I in an attempt to save the business.
UK&I managing director Zoe Bowley said: “The announcement of the Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) proposal today follows a period of constructive dialogue with the British Property Federation and a broad range of our landlords.
“We have taken onboard their feedback and accommodated their requests as far as possible.
“Unfortunately, the impact of the global pandemic has meant that we have had to make some incredibly tough decisions to safeguard Pizza Express for the long term.
“Today we have confirmed that 73 of our pizzerias are proposed to close permanently. In most cases, there is another PizzaExpress nearby, either already open or reopening soon, to welcome our customers.
“Our focus is on our people whose jobs are impacted and we will be doing everything we can either to redeploy them or to support them in finding roles elsewhere.
“Hard as this process is, it will protect the jobs of over 9,000 of our colleagues and provide a strong footing for Pizza Express to meet future challenges and opportunities.”
Chief Executive of British Property Federation Melanie Leech added: “These situations are never easy, particularly now for the retail, hospitality and leisure businesses on our high streets at the sharp end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Property owners, however, need to take into consideration the impact on their investors, including the millions of people whose savings and pensions are invested in commercial property, as they vote on any CVA proposal.
“Pizza Express and Deloitte engaged with the BPF before launching this CVA proposal.
“This has provided us an opportunity to improve understanding of property owners’ interests and concerns, but ultimately it will be for individual property owners to decide how they will vote on the CVA.”