Hope for Butler's Wharf Chef School

Butlers Wharf Chef School, which closed down on Thursday because it could not pay rent arrears of £106,000, could be revived in the future in a cheaper part of London such as Elephant and Castle or East Dulwich, Southwark Council said today.

The council supported the school's creation five years ago along with the London Docklands Development Corporation, the Hotel and Catering Training Company, and Conran Restaurants. No rent was charged for the first half of the 10-year lease.

Southwark's head of property, Chris Horn, said the school, which turned in a trading loss of below £100,000 last March, had struggled to become self-financing. Part of the problem, he said, was that rents had trebled since 1996 and the success of the redeveloped area made it impossible to expand. He suspected the vacated premises were likely to become a restaurant.

Horn added that the school had started when new restaurants were opening daily in London and the demand for chefs could not be met. Since then, more courses had started up and more chefs benefited from on-the-job training.

There had been hopes that the University of Bedford, where school director John Roberts moved last year to set up a hotel school, would buy Butlers Wharf as its London arm. Horn said a collaboration with the University with a fresh, debt-free school remained a possibility.

He added that young students working towards a diploma had been transferred to another course. Those that may have lost out on fees and tuition would be students booking short-term or weekend recreational courses.