Two Kent restaurants could close as its owner has announced plans to ditch a third of its sites.

Tasty, which runs the Wildwood and Dim T brands, says it plans to exit about 20 loss-making sites after a “challenging” start to the year.

There are currently two Wildwood restaurants in the county – in Earl Street, Maidstone and St Peter’s Street, Canterbury.

The restructuring plan would see the group shut 18 of these restaurants, with two of these sites already closed to customers.

However, it is yet to confirm which of these face the chop – leaving all sites in the UK vulnerable to closure.

Tasty currently operates 43 Wildwood restaurants alongside six Dim-T pan-Asian eateries, two non-trading sites and three sub-let venues.

It expects to run 30 such businesses by the end of the year.

On Tuesday, the hospitality group said its financial performance “continues to be inhibited by a tail of underperforming sites, despite efforts at improving operational performance”.

The company added: “The use of a restructuring plan is considered the most effective means to reorganise the group to return it to profitability and secure its long-term future which should change the financial viability, profitability profile and long-term prospects of the group.”

Tasty’s bosses said they expect the plan will improve earnings by up to £2.1 million by the 2025 financial year, particularly through the restaurant closures and other cost savings.

It will enter into a new £750,000 loan agreement with Bet365 shareholder Will Roseff in order to fund the restructuring.

The group said it expects to operate about 30 restaurants by the end of the current year.

The proposals are to be circulated to Tasty’s creditors before a court hearing expected later this month.

It comes as Tasty expects to confirm revenues of around £46.9 million for 2023, up from £44 million in 2022.

It has also trimmed its earnings loss to £900,000 last year from a £2.7 million loss a year earlier.

The group has made “reasonable progress” so far this year “despite difficult recent trading conditions”.