So where we live in the past few months we have lost Jamies Italian, Byron burger, carluccio , prezzo , gaucho and CAU just this week and many other small independent restaurants . Many of these opened two years ago on a wave of new places coming to the town as a new cinema complex opened.
Very sad - question I have is this the same everywhere or was my town, Harrogate, just impacted after too much optimism on the economy of the town to sustain all those restaurants and brands? What is it like where you live?
I'm in London so there's a big turnover - old ones close, new ones open - so it's probably not representative. But I do know that business rates have been hugely hiked, and continue to be hugely hiked, and this is causing many shops and restaurants to be non viable.
Also, I know a quite smart new restaurant that opened about 4 years ago, and had an Open Day for hiring. Waiters, bar staff, cooks etc.
Everyone and anyone could go, and there were on the spot 'play-acting' sort of group interviews and assessments.
Now, this restaurant is part of a smallish chain, pays well above minimum wage, proper contracts, holidays, career progression pathways, didn't require experience....you really couldn't ask much better.
They were looking to hire about 25 people and had about 40 turn up.
Of that 40, only 3 (3!) were GB nationals.
I've no idea if this is relevant and if there are still sufficient other nationalities to fill the hiring gaps. Or more locals stepping in. And I don't know that many restaurants, but I heard that hiring is a big problem.
I'm in London today, at exchange square near Liverpool Street. I'm looking onto a gaucho as I speak, hard to imagine it will close. There are lots, maybe 10, independent cafes and restaurants around this square, of various ethnic styles, it's really quite vibrant. But London is a different economy to us up north. Harrogate is always seen as a posh beacon in Yorkshire, but it feels like it just reached saturation in the market. People have less money to spare than I think was realised and either eat out less or, like we tend to, go for early bird discounts or cut out a course, eat the fixed menu to keep costs down. Presumably if everyone does that margins get hit with fixed rates costs on the other side of the equation.
Cau and/or Goucho are on the hit list in Edinburgh...don't think they have been open that long either. A Carluccio's was also supposed to open but didn't for obvious reasons.
