Abokado unable to save 150 jobs despite pre-pack deal

The healthy fast-food chain has been unable to save the jobs of its 150 employees after being bought out of administration, according to The Telegraph.

Five Abokado stores have reportedly had to close with immediate effect, while discussions over the remaining 14 sites are dependent on the landlord’s individual rental agreements.

The company, founded in 2004 by Mark Lilley and his wife Lindsay, sold healthy, orientally inspired fast food to customers, such as poke bowls, sushi, hot rice pots and noodles.

The Telegraph stated that the group was recently bought out of administration by Lilley in a pre-pack administration deal through a new holding company, Montway.

However, Abokado’s 150-strong workforce was made redundant last month.

Abokado previously operated 19 stores in central London that relied on the lunch rush hour from office workers.

The firm reportedly filed for administration last week, attributing its collapse to Covid-19 restrictions and the fact that the majority of the city workforce were now working from home.

The stores were forced to close in March as restrictions tightened.

At the time, Lilley released a message on twitter stating: “I wanted to write to let you know that we’ve made the difficult decision to temporarily close all of our stores. This is for the safety of our crew and customers alike.”