THE owner of Frankie & Benny’s and Chiquito – both of which are to open new restaurants in Bournemouth – has said trading continues to be challenging.

The Restaurant Group, whose brands also include the Garfunkel’s chain, said shake-up of the business would only begin to bear fruit towards the end of the year.

Frankie & Benny’s New York Italian restaurants are at Poole’s Tower Park and Castlepoint in Bournemouth, while a Chiquito restaurant, bar and Mexican grill is also at Tower Park.

Branches of both are to open at BH2, the leisure complex containing several other restaurants, casino and Odeon multiplex.

The Restaurant Group said like-for-like sales in the fourth quarter fell 5.9 per cent and dropped 3.9 per cent over the year.

Total turnover increased by 3.7 per cent in 2016 to £710.7 million.

Last year, the Restaurant Group announced it was shutting 33 under-performing sites as part of a strategic review.

It admitted it has lost value-conscious customers at Frankie & Benny’s after significant price hikes and pledged to “look at the pricing architecture of the menu” and “reinvigorate the value offer” in a bid to attract more families.

The review will look next at Chiquito, Coast To Coast, Joe’s Kitchen and Garfunkel’s.

The company said in a statement: “We expect the trading performance of the business in the first half of 2017 to remain difficult, but anticipate momentum improving towards the end of this transitional year as our initiatives start to take effect.”

The group also pointed to a series of external cost pressures, such as increases in the National Living Wage, the Apprenticeship Levy, the revaluation of business rates, higher energy taxes and increased costs linked to the collapse in value of the pound.