Bok Shop closes two restaurants due to 'insane' energy price rises

Fried chicken restaurant group Bok Shop has closed two of its restaurants after being hit by "insane" energy price increases.

In an Instagram post, the team said they had made the "incredibly hard" decision to permanently shut its sites in Southampton and Eastbourne.

"It has become increasingly difficult to keep these large units running after such insane price increases such as energy," the post read.

"As an independent business started by two mates, we only ever want to be transparent with you."

The post added: "Although it feels like a couple of steps back, it's all in the name of progress and we're grateful to have two other awesome shops in Brighton and Hastings that will continue to serve up all of the fried goodness you could ever want."

Bok Shop was founded in Brighton in 2017 and serves chicken wings, tenders and burgers with a range of sauces and toppings. The group secured £1.2m funding from a private equity backer in 2021 after seeing a surge in delivery demand during the pandemic.

A number of hospitality businesses have closed sites in the last few months due to rising costs.

Last month Cardiff vegan restaurant Got No Beef permanently closed after two years after being "hit hard" by the pandemic and energy price rises, while Hypha in Chester announced it was temporarily shutting its doors to work out how it could continue to trade without further raising prices for its customers.

BrewDog also shut six of its bars in August and blamed the "clueless" government for failing to tackle spiralling costs.