87 of the chain’s restaurants have been put up for sale as owner Hostmore, a hospitality company, struggles with debt and heavy losses, and hopes to complete the sale by the end of September which would keep the brand running  and help to secure jobs.

Hostmore said the American-inspired chain “ continues to operate normally and all existing stores remain open. The sale process remains ongoing, with no decisions having been made  to close any existing stores”.

Hostmore also said it had attempted to buy the US operator of TGI Fridays for £177m but that the deal collapsed.

PwC the Accountants found that 18 chemists, 16 pubs, and nine banks shut down every week on average between January to June this year.