In 2020, like many businesses in the hospitality sector, Caffè Nero suffered from poor trading conditions because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the second lockdown in November 2020, the company was forced to act and proposed entering a company voluntary arrangement with its creditors. Mr Ford's hope being that successful renegotiation of rent agreements with landlords, and a reduction in overall costs, would enable the company to rebuild its business when the pandemic ends. The CVA vote by creditors held on 30th Nov 2020 was successful, with more than 90% of creditors voting in favour. The CVA was approved the day after Caffè Nero confirmed it had rejected an unsolicited takeover approach from the billionaire Issa brothers stating that the brothers had "clear intention" to disrupt the CVA "as a precursor to opportunistically acquiring the company at a later date." The brothers are behind the EG Group.