A CELEBRITY BBC chef has closed one of their restaurants for good just days after also shutting a coffee shop.
The chef, famous for their TV appearances and high-end dining, confirmed the permanent closure following months of financial struggles.
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Rick Stein and his family have revealed that their Marlborough High Street restaurant closed for good on Sunday, October 5.
He fumed: “Because the economy is not looking too good, people aren’t going out as much.”
The venue struggled to match the returns of Stein’s other restaurants, many of which are based in Cornwall, prompting the permanent shutdown.
After nearly a decade on the High Street, the iconic building is now up for a new tenant.
The two-level restaurant, which seats 92 diners, is now up for lease, with the price available on application.
Estate agent Savills confirmed the property sits on a 20-year lease from February 2016, with a passing rent of £100,000 a year, set for review to open market rates in 2026.
In a statement, the Stein family thanked the Marlborough community for their support.
“After much consideration, we’re very sad to announce that our restaurant in Marlborough will close,”
a spokesperson said.
“We want to sincerely thank everyone who has dined with us and supported us here over the years – we’ve loved being part of the Marlborough community.”
SET TO GO UNDER
The BBC icon has around a dozen restaurants in the UK and Australia.
Rick runs his successful restaurant group with his ex-wife Jill and his sons Jack, Charlie and Ed.
The chain revealed that it hoped the closure could have been avoided after the Malborough, Wiltshire, location had not been performing as well as others.
A spokesperson for Rick Stein Marlborough told Gazette and Herald: “We can confirm that we are proposing the closure of our Marlborough restaurant and are consulting with the team to explore whether this can be avoided.
“Our other restaurants and rooms continue to trade well, but this particular site has not delivered the same level of return.”
Five years ago, in 2020, the restaurant was saved from closure after the landlord offered a reduction in rent.
A total of 39 staff members who had been given notice were given their jobs back, after the 25% reduction was agreed.
Rick said at the time: “I’m delighted that our landlord in Marlborough made such a generous offer, I had resigned myself to losing the restaurant and our wonderful team and I am so pleased that we can reopen.”
At the time, the anonymous landlord said that the generous offer was the “right thing to do”; however, the restaurant is still struggling.
The TV chef’s Marlborough restaurant first opened back in 2016, and is housed in the Grade II listed building Lloran House.
It serves some of his most well-known dishes, such as Dover sole a la meunière and turbot hollandaise.
But revenues across his business – which also include his shops, cookery school, and online presence – tumbled last year.
COFFEE SHOP CLOSURE
This comes just weeks after his grab-and-go coffee shop in Padstow, Cornwall, was forced to shut permanently.
He took the unexpected decision in an effort to streamline his business as he looks to slim down operating costs.
A spokesman for the Rick Stein Group told The Sun: “We can confirm that we have permanently closed our small coffee shop with the three-strong team offered alternative positions with the business.”
The representative added: “Rick Stein’s Michelin Bib Gourmand Café remains firmly open serving the same coffee from Cornish roasters, Origin Coffee, alongside a lunch and dinner menu featuring dishes inspired by Rick’s travels and passion for fresh, simple ingredients, many of them sourced locally.”
In a previous interview, Rick hit out at the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves and her decision for a tax raid in the budget.
He fumed: “Because the economy is not looking too good, people aren’t going out as much.
“So the one thing you don’t want to do is impose a heavy tax on the sorts of industries that are actually producing stuff.”
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