Levi Roots to close London restaurant
Reggae Reggae Sauce producer Levi Roots is to close his restaurant in south London.
The former Dragon's Den star, who won £50,000 after impressing judges on the BBC TV show with his spicy brown sauce, first opened the Papine Jerk Centre in Battersea in 2007.
It has been serving Jamaican cuisine to the nearby Thames Christian College and acted as a hub for the local community.
Roots, who has not yet set a date for the closure said he was devastated to close the restaurant but hopes to expand the business into a high-street restaurant franchise.
"I have always talked about expansion here, as we started it is not where we wanted to end up. It has been part of my life over the past six years. My heart is bleeding I have got to uproot," he told the Local Guardian.
A spokeswoman for Thames Christian College said the school is in negotiations with another company to provide hot meals.
Mr Roots first began selling his sauce at Notting Hill Carnival. He now supplies supermarkets and restaurants nationwide.
