Snowy January forces Manchester restaurant Ithaca to close

The restaurant, which went into voluntary liquidation in November last year after owing £1.9m to banks and HM Revenue and Customs, had been taken over by a new management team and was in talks with an Abu Dhabi-based investor, Aldar, to expand the business in the Middle East.

But after experiencing a ‘near-dead’ trade in January, when days of snow and ice hit the city, Aldar backed out from discussions, forcing Ithaca’s owner Arnie Hira, who bought the business in 2008 with a £4m investment, to close the business.

Stuart Wilson, assistant manager at Ithaca, which earlier this month won the Hi-Life Dining Award for Best Manchester Restaurant​, told BigHospitality that the four-floor building on John Dalton Street had also been deemed too big for a 76-cover restaurant.

“An evaluator looked at the building and said its architectural design made it unfit for use as a four-floor restaurant,” he said. “For a £4m investment we were never going to recoup the money on just 76 covers, we’d need to triple our capacity. Our weak sales against such high costs for the building meant the business just couldn’t carry on.”

Closing statement​

Wilson added that since an e-shot was released to Ithaca’s customers announcing the closure, a number of potential investors had expressed an interest in taking the brand on in the North West or London.

In the e-shot, Hira, who is described as being ‘distraught’ about Ithaca’s closure, told his customers he had enjoyed running the restaurant, and thanked them for their 'support, guidance, and encouragement'. 

'We will miss you all and perhaps one day our paths will cross again when we resurrect the Love Ithaca brand,’ he said.

Ithaca will cease trading on 28 February.