Pesto Trafford Centre closes after nearly 20 years

Pesto Trafford Centre closes after nearly 20 years, the Italian-restaurant chain confirmed in a statement on its website, with no reason given for shutting its Manchester site.

The restaurant opened at the Trafford Centre in 2007 and traded there for nearly two decades before closing this month. Pesto did not say what prompted the decision, and no information on affected jobs was released alongside the announcement.

Pesto Trafford Centre closes for good

The statement thanked loyal customers for nearly two decades of support.

The closure was confirmed through a statement on Pesto's website rather than a press release. The statement thanked customers for their support without detailing the reasons for the shutdown or addressing staffing at the site, a pattern increasingly common among chains that quietly wind down single locations rather than issue formal notices.

Pesto now operates 11 restaurants across the Midlands and North West, down from 12 before the Pesto Trafford Centre closure. Other Manchester hospitality closures this year include Another Hand, which shut amid wider pressure on the sector.

Ownership history and expansion model

Sara and Neil Gatt founded Pesto in 2006. The chain grew largely by converting former pub sites into Italian restaurants rather than opening on fresh high-street leases, a model that let it expand without competing directly for traditional restaurant units.

Mitchells & Butlers, the pub and restaurant group behind brands including Harvester and Toby Carvery, took over Pesto in 2024. The Trafford Centre closure is the first confirmed loss from the chain's estate since the acquisition, and it leaves the group's smallest brand with one fewer site to manage alongside its larger portfolios.

Mall-based restaurant units have faced pressure across UK shopping centres in recent years, as footfall patterns shift and operators reassess rents on upper-floor dining space. Pesto's Trafford Centre site sat on one such upper level, among a wider wave of UK casual-dining chains trimming sites rather than expanding them. Other operators keep opening in the city regardless, including Little Beast, which launched there earlier this year.

With 11 sites remaining, Pesto's footprint stays concentrated in the Midlands and North West regions where it started. Whether further closures follow under Mitchells & Butlers ownership is not yet known.