The Restaurant Group (TRG), which operates major family brands including Wagamama and Frankie & Benny’s, is expecting a “large number” of sites to not reopen after the Covid-19 lockdown.

TRG said in an email to staff, seen by the BBC, that many sites are “no longer viable to trade and will remain closed permanently”.

The Restaurant Group declined to comment and a spokesperson could not confirm which sites or how many would remain closed.

The Restaurant Group has already been streamlining to become leaner. It recently announced last year that it would close more than 150 outlets, including branches of Chiquito and Frankie & Benny’s.

The move was said to be part of a restructure taking place over the next six years and followed its acquisition of Wagamama for £559m.

The group raised £57m through a share placing in April aimed to provide the company with “sufficient” liquidity to continue to operate through the coronavirus crisis.

But it issued a “pessimistic scenario for the current financial year” at the time and around 400 of its 600 sites are expected to reopen.