Pizza Hut franchise in Motherwell faces closure following massive rent increase

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Fast food lovers in Motherwell may well have “Hit the Hut” for the last time following a massive rent increase of £10,000 imposed on a food business.Frank Hill, operations manager at Pizza Hut on the town’s Merry Street, hit out after North Lanarkshire Council hiked the annual rent by 80 per cent following a five-year review.He says unless there’s a rethink then the takeaway restaurant, which is currently closed for maintenance work, won’t be opening its doors again, with a possible loss of 14 staff jobs.The Lanarkshire Live app is available to download now.

Get all the news from your area – as well as features, entertainment, sport and the latest on Lanarkshire’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic – straight to your fingertips, 24/7.The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories, and allows you to customise your page to the sections that matter most to you.Head to the App Store and never miss a beat in Lanarkshire - iOS - Android “We knew the review was in the contract and the guy came out last week, then all of a sudden we received an email saying they wanted the rent to rise from £14,000 to £24,000 because of market conditions.“What market are they looking at?

It’s just not feasible.“Power companies are quite rightly getting complaints where energy costs are rising 50 per cent, but North Lanarkshire Council would appear to think an 80 per cent rent increase is acceptable, or even possible for a small business.“We are a small family franchise and are absolutely gutted to have to say to the staff that this rise effectively closed the store.“If I was a private landlord and saying to my tenant I was putting their rent up by 80 per cent I know what they’d be saying to me, and I know what the