Dough&Co: Popular Sheffield restaurant on The Moor closes suddenly, with staff claiming they are owed money

Dough&Co, on The Moor, in the same complex as The Light cinema, is shut with a sign on the door saying 'sorry we are closed for the day’ and no further explanation. But The Star understands that it has closed permanently, along with three other Dough&Co restaurants in Swindon, Milton Keynes and Stoke-on-Trent.

The Star has spoken to two former employees who said the restaurant on The Moor had been open as usual on Saturday, December 3, but staff received a message the following morning telling them it was closing for good with immediate effect. The Star has made repeated attempts to contact Dough&Co, with no response. The Dough&Co website no longer lists Sheffield as one of its locations, though it does list 12 other branches which it is understood remain open, including one in Daventry, Northampton, which only opened last month. The Sheffield restaurant is also listed on Google as ‘permanently closed’.

A message which was apparently sent to staff at the restaurant on The Moor by Dough&Co, and has been shared with The Star by two former employees, states: “After making (the) difficult decision to close restaurants due to (the) heavy climate around energy bills and increasing rents we wanted to be fair with all teams as much (as) this is possible. However, your restaurant did not perform well and was supported by other stronger branches. Unfortunately, we are not in the position to continue support and we decided to pay 50% of your wages.

“We believe in this difficult situation (it) is very important to be transparent and honest. We wish you all the best in (the) future and we are happy to give you any references if needed to find alternative employment.”

Liam Unwin, who said he worked part-time at the restaurant as a kitchen porter, shared a copy of a pay slip dated December 6 which shows basic pay of £240.62 for 43.75 hours worked at an hourly rate of £5.50. It includes a ‘manual adjustment’ of -£120, leaving him with £120.62.

Ciro Theaker said he was the former head chef at Dough&Co in Sheffield but had left in October. He claims he is still owed £2,076 in holiday pay. He said he is aware of many other ex-employees who say they are also owed money.

He said staff had received an email saying that what had happened was ‘no one in particular’s fault’ and adding ‘I would suggest we move on in as fast a fashion as possible’. Mr Theaker said he was upset about how staff had been treated, having been made redundant just weeks before Christmas with no notice, especially when Dough&Co was still promoting its remaining branches and had only last month opened a new restaurant.

Dough&Co’s Sheffield restaurant had a 4.5 out of five rating on Tripadvisor, with one reviewer describing the pizzas as ‘gorgeous’ and another praising the ‘consistently delicious food’.