Restaurateur Allan Love has been forced to close the Brighton fish restaurant Gordon Ramsay helped him save ‘because of the credit crunch and lack of bookings’.
Trade picked up for Love following a makeover of the restaurant by Ramsay in 2007 for the TV show Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.
However, in a podcast posted on the restaurant’s website in November, Love said business was down 50 per cent and feared that the 2.5 per cent reduction in VAT would not be enough to save small businesses.
A note pinned to the door of Love’s Fish this week confirmed the restaurant had closed for good.
On the website, a similar message from Love adds: “We were very lucky to have had such a wonderful mixture of people to serve. It`s a very sad time for us all but we hopefully will try to be positive for the future.”
After Ramsay’s revamp, where the name was changed from Ruby Tates to Love’s Fish, Love managed to turn the fortunes of his failing business around from losing £1.5k a week to turning over £20k a week.
For help on surviving 2009, return to BigHospitality on Monday January 5 for Restaurant magazine’s tips to Beat the Crunch.