Rick Stein shutters Marlborough restaurant as group struggles with losses

"Celebrity chef Rick Stein will close his Marlborough restaurant this weekend, the second outlet to shut in a week as his family-run hospitality empire battles mounting financial pressure. The High Street site, which opened almost a decade ago, will serve its last meals on Sunday, October 5. The closure follows the permanent shutdown of Stein's Coffee Shop in Padstow, Cornwall, where three staff were redeployed."

"In a statement signed by Stein, his wife Jill and sons Ed, Jack and Charlie, the family said the Marlborough branch was "no longer viable" and thanked staff for their "passion, hard work and dedication"."

""Because the economy is not looking too good, people aren't going out as much, so the one thing you don't want to do is impose a heavy tax on the sorts of industries that are actually producing stuff," he said in a recent interview."

Rick Stein will close his Marlborough restaurant on Sunday, October 5, the second outlet to close in a week amid mounting financial pressure on the family-run hospitality group. The High Street site opened almost a decade ago; Stein's Coffee Shop in Padstow has permanently closed, with three staff redeployed. The business spans restaurants, hotels, shops, a cookery school and an online retail arm and has faced falling sales and rising costs, with group revenues down 5.4% to £30.4 million and deeper losses, including widened pre-tax losses at the Seafood Restaurant. Stein criticises government tax rises and levies for worsening industry strain. His presence in Padstow includes 13 venues, credited with boosting visitors and employment but criticised for driving up property prices and squeezing independent traders.

Read at Business Matters