TV chef Gordon Ramsay's burger restaurant chain with nine UK locations suddenly closes town centre site

The Sun

28-04-2025

A GORDON Ramsay burger restaurant looks set to shutter permanently after a lengthy closure.
The celebrated chef's Street Burger location at Reading's Oracle Shopping Centre previously announced that it had temporarily closed until March 4.
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But the spot now looks set to pull the plug permanently after the site told punters it would be "closed until further notice."
Gordon Ramsay's restaurant set up shop at the shopping centre in 2021 to replace Giraffe, which originally stood by the riverside alongside many other popular businesses.
The Sun has contacted Gordon Ramsay Restaurants for comment.
Last year was a bad 12 months for celebrity chefs after swathes of their restaurants failed.
Even BBC MasterChef judges haven't been saved amid a spate of shocking closures as the hospitality industry feels extra pressure this year.
Marco Pierre White, Simon Rimmer and Tony Rodd, to name a few, won over viewers' hearts on screen - but when it comes to running their own restaurant chains, things haven't always been as smooth.
One of those closures is Gordon's protege and TV star Mark Sargeant, 51, has been forced to close down his restaurant in Kent.
The chef announced the news in an email sent to loyal customers.
As seen by Kent Online, the message read: "It is with deep regret that we announce the closure of The Restaurant MS.
'This decision, made after careful consideration, has not been easy.
"However, the challenging market conditions and an unpredictable future have compelled us to take this step.
"We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our valued customers, dedicated employees, and supportive suppliers for their unwavering support since our inception, as we could not have achieved this journey without each of you."
Another email from bosses read: "All voucher holders will be contacted shortly.
'Please be advised that we can only communicate with the individual who purchased the voucher.
"We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused you.'
It comes amid a challenging time for independent businesses, where restaurants, pubs, and cafes have been forced to shut down.
This has often been associated with the rising cost of living and subsequent decline in dining out.
Even well-known pizza chains have been faced with closures, like Papa Johns which confirmed that 43 of its restaurants would shut down in the coming months.
More closures could be on the horizon due to upcoming hikes in employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and the national minimum wage.
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
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."
Professor Bamfield has also 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."