A CELEB-loved bar and restaurant chain Horticulture has suddenly shut all its locations with diners stunned to find it closed.
Newcastle‘s trendy Horticulture restaurant, its Whitley Bay sister site, and the popular El Guapo cocktail bar have all gone bust, leaving patrons gutted and bookings binned.
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The shock closures happened over the weekend, with punters turning up to locked doors and no explanation.
Now, the director of the venues has finally confirmed the closures, blaming crippling costs and a tough time for the hospitality industry.
A spokesman said: “We are regretful to inform you that both Horticulture venues and El Guapo are currently closed.
“We are, at present, undertaking advice before deciding upon the next steps for the future. We will update in due course.”
It’s a sad end for the popular spots, known for their delicious food, buzzing atmosphere, and celebrity clientele.
Horticulture, famed for its stylish decor and outdoor terrace, had become a firm favourite with locals and visitors alike.
The city centre venue opened to great fanfare five years ago, soon getting a solid reputation for its amazing small plates food and its long list of espresso martinis.
It also attracted celebrity chefs including Si King of the Hairy Bikers.
During the night the venue would fill up with revellers to enjoy its cocktails and DJ tunes, played out across the bar area and suntrap outdoor terrace.
El Guapo, known for its vast margarita menu and tasty tacos, had only recently taken over from another bar.
Meanwhile, the Whitley Bay branch of Horticulture, opened in late 2024, was also tipped for success.
But the rising cost of everything from energy to ingredients proved too much for the businesses to bear.
It is just another blow to the North East hospitality scene, which has seen several big names go under in recent months.
Diners with bookings are understandably fuming, while staff are now facing an uncertain future.
The closures are a stark reminder of the challenges facing restaurants and bars in the current economic climate.
TROUBLE ON THE HIGH STREET
Plenty of other retailers are closing stores across the high street as households lean more towards online shopping and amid high business rates.
Soaring inflation in recent years has also dented shoppers’ pockets.
The Centre for Retail Research’s latest analysis suggests 13,479 stores, the equivalent of 37 each day, shut for good in 2024.
Of those, 11,341 were independent shops while 2,138 were shut by larger retailers.
The data also showed over half the stores that closed last year were shut due to the store or retailer going through insolvency proceedings.
What is happening to the hospitality industry?
By Laura McGuire, consumer reporter
This is when formal measures are taken to deal with tackling a business’s debt.
Retailers are also shutting stores in 2025.
New Look is ramping up a store closure programme ahead of April’s National Insurance hike.
Approximately a quarter of the retailer’s 364 stores are at risk when their leases expire.
This equates to about 91 stores, with a significant impact on its 8,000-strong workforce.
Why are retailers closing stores?
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: “The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024.
End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker.
It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date.
This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023.
It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns.
The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker.
Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations.
Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes.
Professor Bamfield has warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
“By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer’s household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.”
