Closures tracker: Simpsons, Sambal Shiok and more hospitality firms shuttering amid mounting cost pressures

It’s no secret that hospitality has been hit hard with more than its fair share of extra costs in recent years.

 

The sector has shouldered nearly £7b worth of tax rises over the course of the last two Budgets successively, according to UKHospitality, and for many the cost of running operations against this backdrop has become too great to bear.

 

Hospitality closures hit four a day at the end of last year, and UKHospitality has warned they are set to accelerate to as many as six a day in 2026 as businesses struggle to shoulder an avalanche of rising costs across business rates, National Insurance Contributions and rising energy bills.

 

And despite the rates relief package for pubs unveiled by the government last month, concerns about the viability of many hospitality businesses remain for many operators across the industry. Tommy Banks, chef-patron of the Michelin-starred Black Swan in York, told The Caterer that he “dreaded to think how many businesses will close in the first quarter of this year”.

 

Here, The Caterer rounds up the closures that have taken place so far in 2026 for hospitality firms that can no longer justify the cost of running a business.

 

Last updated 5 June 2026.

 

Sambal Shiok

 

Sambal Shiok Laksa Bar in London’s Highbury has closed after eight years of trading amid “relentless cost increases”.

 

Chef-founder Mandy Yin, a former corporate lawyer, attributed the closure of the Malaysian restaurant to “structural cost pressures facing the UK’s independent hospitality sector rather than any single event”.

 

She pointed out that trading had become “increasingly volatile and unpredictable” since Covid and while footfall remained high, especially during match season on the Holloway Road, revenue could not keep up with rising costs.

 

Simpsons

 

Chef Andreas Antona has confirmed the closure of the Michelin-starred Simpsons restaurant in Birmingham after 32 years of trading.

 

It comes just over a year after the winner of the 2022 Restaurateur of the Year – Independent Catey announced his retirement following 50 years in the hospitality industry and put Simpsons up for sale.

 

Antona said he had “no choice but to close the doors” of his restaurant following three aborted sales attempts, and added he has “never known a more challenging economic climate” for the industry.

 

Spaghetti House

Family-owned Italian restaurant group Spaghetti House has shuttered all five of its London-based restaurants after 70 years of trading.

 

The closures came soon after parent company Lavval Restaurants Limited entered administration.

 

Luigi Lavarini, executive chairman and chief executive of Lavval Restaurants, said: “Years of increasing costs from the pandemic, Brexit, government budgets and global instability have created difficult market conditions for hospitality. Balancing these costs with reduced demand and spending from customers as they navigate the rising cost of living has proven too challenging.

 

“Despite best efforts and seeking professional advice, we have had to make this difficult but necessary decision to wind down our business.”

 

Spaghetti House had close to a dozen sites across London at its peak.

 

Covino

 

Climat founder Christopher Laidler has closed Covino in Chester after almost 10 years of trading, blaming its collapse on “the last two Labour budgets”.

 

He said the closure of the Michelin-recommended, French-inspired small plates restaurant he had “built from the ground up” in 2016 was down to the government going after “completely the wrong people”.

 

The restaurateur added: “I’m going to spend some time licking my wounds, filing for bankruptcy and, most importantly, catching up on lost time with my family, who have come second to the restaurants far too often over the last 10 years.”

 

Climat

 

Wine-led restaurant and bar Climat in Manchester closed in May after three and a half years of trading amid a “perfect storm” for hospitality.

 

Founder Christopher Laidler said the closure was “yet another casualty of the times we’re living in” and blamed the combination of a stagnant economy, a persistent cost of living crisis, rampant food inflation and the forever increasing tax burden for small business.

 

In January 2023, food critic Jay Rayner wrote a glowing review of Climat in The Guardian, describing it as a “terrific restaurant serving food you really want to eat”, and it also secured a listing in the Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland.

 

Mollis Fried Chicken

 

Chef Alex Bond (pictured), chef patron of Michelin-starred Alchemilla, has made the “incredibly difficult decision” to close spin-off concept Mollis Fried Chicken.

 

The Nottingham restaurant opened on the same road as Alchemilla following a successful crowdfunding campaign in late 2022.

 

Speaking to The Caterer, Bond said “it feels like our industry is under attack“ and that it pays “an unfair amount of VAT in a system that seems rigged against us“.

 

Bond added that costs ranging from rising business rates, “sky-high and potentially even higher energy prices”, increased minimum wage costs alongside pension and National Insurance Contributions and food costs increasing almost weekly had made continuing operations at Mollis financially unviable.

 

“Mix all that with a stagnated economy where everyone has less disposable income and, excuse the pun, but you have a recipe for disaster,” Bond added.

 

“Our industry contributes billions to the economy every year, but it seems as loud as we shout nobody in government wants to listen – because I know they can hear us.”

 

Franco Manca

 

Pizza specialist Franco Manca is set to shutter 16 of its restaurants, representing a fifth of its overall estate, as part of a company voluntary arrangement (CVA).

 

The closures, which are expected to impact 225 jobs, were attributed by parent company Fulham Shore’s chief executive Marcel Khan to significantly increased cost pressures.

 

Fulham Shore boss Marcel Khan said: “Even restaurant businesses that are doing all the right things from a customer and operational perspective are not immune to widely publicised pressures impacting the hospitality industry.

 

“This includes significant increases in National Insurance and the National Living Wage in recent history, as well as a lack of business rates relief for the restaurant sector and disproportionately high VAT in the UK compared with Europe.

 

“As a result of these external cost pressures, we have to make sure that we are putting our business on a sustainable footing for long-term growth and development.”

 

 

BrewDog

 

The Scottish craft beer giant famed for its Punk IPA and rebellious marketing strategy closed 38 pubs in March. While a portion of the business was bought out by American brewer and cannabis firm Tilray Brands in a £33m deal, the sale still resulted in 484 redundancies.

 

Upon news of the closure, former BrewDog managing director James Brown said the collapse of the once-pioneering craft beer brand was one that “unfortunately many of us could see coming”.

 

He stressed that the majority of bars that closed were profitable in 2024, with some “regularly delivering revenues north of £60,000 per week”.

 

However, the increase in employers’ National Insurance and the “huge increases” in business rates led to profitable bars becoming marginal, and marginal bars becoming loss-making.

 

Brown added: “This isn’t unique to BrewDog. It’s happening across thousands of venues up and down the country. The difference here is brand awareness, scale and visibility.

 

“For years now, government policy on rates and employment taxes has steadily eroded confidence in hospitality. The result? Over 200,000 hospitality jobs lost in recent years. Yesterday, another 484 economically active, tax-paying contributors were added to that number, people now potentially reliant on the state instead of strengthening it.

 

“Could the leaders of the business including myself 18 months ago done more? The answer is almost certainly yes and by no means is my take on things laying the blame squarely at the door of Rt Hon Rachel Reeves but the leadership over the nearly 20 years of BrewDog could never have envisaged the world post-Brexit, post-Covid and the tax, costs and admin burden facing businesses today.”

 

The Bay, Torquay

 

Devon restaurant the Bay closed on 1 March, less than two years after entrepreneur Lewis Poulier oversaw its refurbishment and relaunch.

 

In a statement posted on Instagram the restaurant said: “It is with a heavy heart that we announce the Bay has officially closed its doors. The UK’s current hospitality sector has put pressure on all businesses from suppliers and consumers; the numbers simply no longer add up for an independent business like ours to sustainably operate.”

 

The Mount, Warwickshire

 

Henley-in-Arden pub the Mount by Glynn Purnell closed in March after four years of mounting operational costs.

 

Purnell, who closed his Michelin-starred Birmingham restaurant Purnell in 2024 after 17 years of trading, said: “The hospitality landscape has become increasingly challenging and, despite everyone’s hard work, it’s simply not sustainable to continue.”

 

The pubs owners, husband and wife team Luke and Tania Fryer, added: “This has been an incredibly difficult decision for us to make. We are so proud of what the Mount has achieved since opening in March 2022 and of the team who have worked tirelessly to make it such a welcoming and well-regarded pub.

 

“However, with the continued rise in operating costs – from food and drink to energy and general overheads – it has become clear that the business is no longer viable.”

 

The pub held its final service on 15 March.