Longstanding Brighton restaurant Gingerman heads a list of notable restaurants around the country that have announced their closure this week – most of them citing financial headwinds for the decision.
The other venues which have called time include rooftop restaurant Climat in Manchester, ultra-local Chapters in Hay-on-Wye, fried chicken specialist Mollis in Nottingham and 104 in London’s Notting Hill.
Gingerman has earned numerous accolades since it opened 28 years ago, and has been described in the Harden’s guide as “the true king of the Brighton food scene”. Founders Ben and Pamela McKellar (pictured alongside Simon Rogan at an awards ceremony) will close the restaurant later this summer, giving fans plenty of time to pay a final visit. The newer venues in their group – Flint House, Ginger Pig and Ginger Fox – remain open.
The couple blame the heart-breaking decision to close on rising costs in the industry. Ben says: “There’s only a certain amount of money you can take in a 30-seater restaurant, with all the costs going up and the tax burden going up, and it’s just not sustainable for small independent restaurants.”
Pamela adds: “We are incredibly sad about it, but at the end of the day we can’t afford all the increases that have happened. The last two budgets have absolutely killed us, and then the rates go up in April and that’s the final nail in this coffin for a tiny restaurant that cooks everything from scratch with great produce from local suppliers.”
Climat, which opened on top of Blackfriars House in Manchester city centre in November 2022, announced its immediate closure via a social media post, saying: “The reasons for closure will echo those of many of our peers.
“Ultimately, a stagnant economy and the persistent cost of living crisis, combined with rampant food inflation and the ever increasing tax burden for small business has created the perfect storm for hospitality – an industry so reliant on high staff numbers and costly, well-positioned locations – both of which have received significant tax increases over the last two budgets.”
Nottingham chef Alex Bond, whose high-achieving restaurant Alchemilla is not closing, took over a former Chinese spot next door to open Mollis as a more relaxed fried chicken shop in 2022. He says it will close on 16 May after some “really hard months“.
Meanwhile in Notting Hill, chef Richard Wilkins has made the decision to shutter his tiny restaurant 104 while hinting that the venue will carry on in a different format. This is not “a traditional closure“, he says, but a transition.
Richard explains: “I’ve taken this format as far as I can on my own. Running a kitchen at this level completely solo has been an incredible challenge, but it also puts a ceiling on what’s possible creatively. The next step needs a different structure.
“This isn’t about stepping away from cooking, it’s about building something that can go further. The last seven years have given me a clear idea of what that needs to look like.”
The owner-operators of Chapters, a hyper-local and sustainable restaurant in a former chapel in Hay-on-Wye, also have a ‘seven-year itch’ from running a restaurant without much support staff.
Charmaine and Mark McHugo said: “Seven years is a long time and as you know from joining us in the restaurant, the way we operate is personal and intimate.”
Chapters will serve its final customers this month, with the McHugos expected to reveal who will take over the site in the next few days.