Caines, who launched The Harbourside Refuge in the summer of 2020 after acquiring the site from Rick Stein's restaurant group, says the restaurant will remain closed 'for the foreseeable future' having struggled to overcome the multitude of challenges currently facing businesses across the hospitality sector.
“My team and I found real joy and pride in running the Harbourside Refuge for the past two years, even under the most challenging of conditions,” says Caines.
“We have had to deal with a rollercoaster of events from after-effects of Brexit to Covid and now the cost-of-living crisis, challenges that I know many others are facing too, both locally and nationally.
“We have tried immensely hard to deal with these challenges, but I’m sorry to say that we have not been able to fully recover from the ongoing impact in regard to both supply and staff shortages, allied now with soaring fuel and other cost increases. It is therefore with a heavy heart that we have chosen to close Harbourside Refuge this winter and for the foreseeable future as we feel that the business is not sustainable to survive through the winter months to come.”
Caines, whose South West-based portfolio also includes The Cove at Maenporth in Falmouth and Lympstone Manor in Devon, adds that many of The Harbourside Refuge team will relocate to The Cove while the restaurant remains closed, and thanked the staff for this 'passion and dedication to hospitality'.
“We hope that in closing for the winter months, The Harbourside Refuge will be able to weather the economic storm and that this is not a final goodbye but just a ‘see you soon’!”
More and more hospitality businesses across the country are being forced to scale back operations and, in many instances, close sites permanently amid spiralling inflation and the impact of the cost of living crisis.
Just this week Larkin Cen's Bristol-based Woky Ko group permanently closed two of its three restaurants as a result of rising price pressures; while chef Luke Garnsworthy blamed the 'bleak economic outlook' for the closure of his Oxfordshire restaurant, Crockers Henley.