Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) is to close 26 restaurants and axe 362 roles despite being saved from administration.

The chain was sold in a pre-pack administration deal after working with insolvency specialists at Deloitte.

It said the move will save 35 sites and 669 jobs from its original network of 61 restaurants and 1,031 employees.

Gavin Maher, joint administrator at Deloitte, said: 'As with a number of dining businesses, the broader challenges facing 'bricks and mortar' operators, combined with the effect of the lockdown, resulted in a deterioration in financial performance and a material funding requirement.

'We have been working closely with the management team under very difficult market conditions to try and find a funding solution and I am glad to be able to announce the rescue of this well-loved brand together with a large proportion of the sites and workforce.

'However, it's clearly disappointing that a number of sites have had to close resulting in today's redundancies."

The list of GBK sites to close:

Angel (London)
Aylesbury
Baker Street (London)
Berners Street (London)
Brunswick (London)
Canterbury
Cardiff Library
Chichester
Clink Street (London)
Covent Garden (London)
Edinburgh
Glasgow [closed at an earlier date]
Maidstone
Nottingham
Richmond
Sheffield
Southampton
Spitalfields (London)
Tower Bridge (London)
Walton on Thames
Wandsworth (London)
Battersea (London)
Bayswater (London)
Brighton Marina
Watford
Windsor
Worcester