From pole to dole: How Lewis Hamilton joined Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Jamie Carragher to become the latest British sports star to flop in the cut-throat culinary world as his restaurant chain goes bust

Daily Mail​

27-04-2025

Formula 1 legend Sir Lewis Hamilton has become the latest sports star to have his fingers burnt when venturing into the food and drink trade.
The seven-time world champion, 40, has been forced to shut down some of his vegan burger restaurants, it was revealed this week.
Hamilton launched the move into '100 per cent plant-based meals' alongside film star Leonardo DiCaprio back in 2019 - but they are now closing their London branches after suffering annual losses of almost £8million.
He is in esteemed company, however, alongside other sporting high performers who have invested in restaurants only to face difficulties.
Thee include Manchester United legends Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs, as well as ex-Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher.
Yet others appear to have been more successful with their hospitality brands still up and running - including those linked with ex-Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid and Wales star Gareth Bale and former Germany international striker Lukas Podolski.
There was also an attempt in the mid-Nineties to make a success a themed restaurant in central London called Football Football, with a celebrity-packed launch - only for tragedy to hit on the eve of the Euro 96 final at Wembley.
The closures now announced by Sir Lewis's Neat Burgers firm include not only their branches in the UK capital but also one shop in New York.
The firm said in a statement: 'We are concentrating our efforts on our best performing restaurants — we believe that sometimes taking a step back is necessary to make a bigger leap forward'.
Ex-Premier League stars Gary Neville (left) and Ryan Giggs (right) backed a venture called Cafe Football - pictured at Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, east London, in November 2013
Neville, now a regular Sky Sports pundit alongside ex-Three Lions teammate Carragher, has explored ventures in hotels and restaurants to property and digital marketing - helping net him millions of pounds.
But new details emerged last November about how he had to close the doors on a fifth restaurant with £1million debts.
The closure of The Man Behind The Curtain, a Michelin-starred venue in Leeds, was not the first time Neville has seen a restaurant founder.
That outlet, originally launched in 2014, was run by Masterchef star Michael O'Hare, with Neville owning 50 per cent.
The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in October 2015, as well as three AA Rosettes in 2016 and attracted investment from Neville.
After opening, it gained a reputation for modern but unique dishes including olives wrapped in edible cellophane, salt and vinegar ox cheek, and chocolate pudding and pork rinds.
But it closed its doors at the end of 2023 and O'Hare has since opened a new restaurant in the city called Psycho Sandbar.
Companies House documents recently showed how Neville's company Relentless Leisure was owed £366,848.
The accounts for 2023 were overdue, but those for 2022 reported a profit of £187,000 and reserves of £105,938, the Sun reported.
Neville and his former Manchester United colleague Giggs had previously invested in a Manchester venue called The Rabbit in the Moon before it closed in 2017.
The Class of 92 duo had teamed up with O'Hare again after making him the creative director of GG Hospitality in 2016 - with the statd aim of running a modern Asian restaurant in Manchester, but it shut its doors after a year.
The menu boasted options including fried calf brains, crispy rabbit ears and an octopus hot dog, while located on the top two floors of Urbis, a six-storey building on the city's Exchange Square.
It was dubbed by one food critic as the 'most bonkers restaurant' they had ever reviewed.
But the space-themed restaurant closed in 2018 after GG Hospitality reported significant losses to shareholders.
GG Hospitality also struggled to make ends meet in 2019, having to close two of its Neville-backed Cafe Football sites after six years.
The venue was initially based in a huge space in the Westfield shopping centre at Stratford in east London.
Customers at its Westfield shopping centre venue in Stratford, east London, that opened in 2013 were offered a selection of 'Fans' Favourites' - ranging from pie, mash and liquor to chilli with steamed rice and soured cream.
Following its early success, Neville and Giggs then decided to open a second venue in Manchester - but that closed in March 2019.
The two venues were both shut that year after GG Hospitality decided to shift its focus into the company's hotel businesses.
At the time, Neville admitted: 'They were decisions made by me while Ryan has been coaching - but we all learn, don't we?'
A third venue is still open in Singapore, but it is operating through a different company.
A smaller version of Cafe Football has opened inside Neville's Hotel Football, which overlooks Manchester United's stadium, Old Trafford.
Yet a restaurant inside Neville's Stock Exchange Hotel in Manchester closed just four months after opening its doors, having earlier replaced celebrity chef Tom Kerridge's Bull and Bear restaurant.
The Stock Market Grill released a statement last July saying it had decided to 'close the doors to Stock Market Grill' with immediate effect.
The restaurant was not run by Neville but by the people owning hotel's cocktail bar, Sterling.
It was revealed just last month how a restaurant owned by ex-Wales and United star Giggs in Worsley, Greater Manchester, closed with immediate effect after amassing six-figure debts.
George's Dining Room and Bar was opened by the former Reds star and two old schoolmates back in 2014, but shut at the end of January.
Customers had been left confused by the abrupt closure as they arrived at the restaurant only to be met by a sign on the door which stated it was shut 'due to unforeseen circumstances'.
The company set up by Giggs and his school friends, Kelvin Gregory and Bernie Taylor, was liquidated.
Customers had initially been told George's would be closed for an entire weekend, but texts that had earlier been sent to staff when the restaurant shut contradicted this.
In the messages, staff were told that management 'regret to announce that with a heavy heart we have no alternative but to close George's effective immediately'.
The firm went on to say: 'This is due to the obvious reduction in trade and business against the huge increases in costs of operating the business and the ongoing cost of living crisis.'
When opening the venue back in 2014, Giggs told media: 'We've known each other for 30 years and we always said it would be great to do something like this together.
'We're all local lads and have lived in this area all our lives so we wanted to do something in Worsley and we think we've got a really different offering for the area.'
The launch event for the restaurant was attended by a host of Giggs' former Manchester United teammates including Neville, Bryan Robson and Nicky Butt.
Elsewhere, former Liverpool centre-back Carragher was reportedly left £100,000 out of pocket after the closures in 2013 of two Liverpool bars and restaurants in which he had involvement.
The Cafe Sport England business, co-owned by the Flanagan Group, went into voluntary liquidation, the Liverpool Echo reported.
While Carragher did not want to comment, the group's managing director Paul Flanagan was quoted at the time as saying: 'All our staff were paid and all our suppliers are still trading with us. Unfortunately it didn't work. It's horrible. We did everything we could.'
Another former Liverpool player to take a hit in the restaurant trade was ex-England striker Emile Heskey, who co-founded a celebrity bar and restaurant in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, that was wound up by the courts with £163,000 debts in 2023.
Documents lodged at Companies House showed that a winding-up order was served on May 30 that year, spelling the end for the venue Parea that had opened in 2018.
It was closed earlier in 2023 after a local catering company applied to have the company wound up over unpaid debts, having previously been a regular haunt of footballers and TV stars including those appearing on Real Housewives Of Cheshire.
Co-owner James Golden told the Manchester Evening News: 'We closed the bar as our lease was up for renewal and the village had gone very quiet. We have recently launched in Liverpool and are opening in Spinningfields shortly.'
Meanwhile, former Premier League winner and ex-England international Danny Drinkwater had to close his restaurant after the business was unable to agree a successful lease renewal.
The ex-midfielder, who won the title with Leicester City in 2016 before later joining Chelsea, owned a 70 per cent stake in the restaurant Firefly Manchester.
He posted a statement on Instagram saying: 'It's with a heavy heart that Firefly Manchester will close its doors at One New Bailey after unsuccessful lease renewal negotiations with the landlord.
'We have explored various alternatives and potential relocation options but unfortunately, none were viable within the given timeframe.
'We would like to express our deepest gratitude to our dedicated staff and loyal customers for their unwavering support over the years and for making Firefly such a prominent part of the Manchester nightlife scene.'
The former Premier League winner wrote on Instagram about Firefly's end
He previously opened the Manchester eatery FoodWell in 2018, but the restaurant went bust in 2022 after amassing £2million in debts.
Drinkwater has said: 'Was great whilst it lasted. Thanks, everyone.'
Other sporting stars have seen their hospitality outlets keep going, however.
Bale, whose five Champions League titles with Real Madrid are a record for a British footballer, owns Elevens Bar and Grill in his native Cardiff, the Welsh capital.
The venue claims on its website of 'offering the best sports viewing experience in Cardiff city centre; boasting 20 4K HD TV's and complete surround sound for that stadium atmosphere'.
The outlet opened in May 2017, as a partnership between Bale and Brains Brewery, before going independent four years later.
A message from Bale that remains on the Elevens website states: 'In a few short years we managed to create something special and unique with Brains: a premium sports bar and grill in the heart of Cardiff.
'We really enjoyed working with them, but it's time to look ahead, and it's exciting to be taking Elevens forward as an independent venue.'
Meanwhile, Germany's 2014 World Cup-winning forward Podolski - a former London rival of Bale's, when playing for Arsenal - has achieved success back in his homeland as a restaurant entrepreneur.
Podolski, 39, now playing for Polish club Górnik Zabrze, is said to be to worth £177.5million after building a business empire aside from football.
That includes a chain of kebab shops and an ice cream brand in his native Germany.
Podolski first launched his dessert brand Ice Cream United in 2017, two years after leaving Arsenal.
The company was founded in Cologne, the home of Podolski's first professional club.
A year later, his first Mangal Doner kebab shop opened in the city and now consists of about 30 branches across Germany.
Podolski told German magazine 11 Freunde: 'Other folks head to the golfing course after training, and just hang around there all-day long.
'I sell ice cream, Kebab and clothing, have fun and everyone can take something home.
'I back this project 100 per cent, and will help where I can help. I want to continue developing this project. I always put my foot to the floor.'
And speaking to the Mail last May, the attacker said: 'I started this business six years ago and we want to make it big. I'm not living to just train, sleep and watch Netflix.
'These days, nobody wants to work. Everyone dreams of becoming a social media star or a YouTuber. That's why more and more bakeries are closing. Nobody wants to get up in the morning and do the dirty work.'
Two more former Gunners Brian Marwood and Lee Dixon were among the diners at mid-Nineties enterprise Football Football, a sporting memorabilia-displaying restaurant on central London's Haymarket near Piccadilly Circus.
Customers were greeted by a hologram of then-England head coach Terry Venables, at the venue which is now the home of a cabaret club.
The Football Football project was led by ex-Fulham and Queens Park Rangers player Bobby Keetch while also being backed by the the Professional Footballers' Association and brewing firm Allied Domecq.
The restaurant had a celebrity-studded launch ahead of England hosting Euro 96, hosted by England, with guests including 1966 World Cup winners Sir Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters and Gordon Banks.
Also there were Manchester United and Northern Ireland hero George Best and comedians Frank Skinner and David Baddiel, then riding high with their TV show Fantasy Football.
Keetch died aged 54, after suffering a stroke, on June 29 1996 - the day before that summer's European Championship final at Wembley in which Germany beat the Czech Republic, having knocked England out in the semi-finals.
And his family later said they struggled to attract enough football stars turning up out of choice.
Announcing the outlet's closure in December 1998, Allied Domecq said it 'no longer complements our long-term vision'.
Keetch's nephew Karl Thomas, who worked for the restaurant, was quoted at the time as saying: 'We thought we would have soccer stars in every week.
'But we had to pay for personal appearances, which wasn't the idea at the start at all.
'Allied Domecq felt we didn't fit into their portfolio. But they never gave us as much support as I would have liked.'
Even the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Rafael Nadal have experienced setbacks, away from their sporting arenas, when stepping into the restaurant world.
Last month the Madrid-based Italian eatery Toto, backed by the football and tennis icons, abruptly closed down after just three years.
But more successful in Spain has been ex-Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Republic of Ireland full-back Stephen Carr who has been involved with a chain of bars, restaurants and nightclubs in Marbella.
He previously said: 'From day one when we opened La Sala it has been excellent and it has just got better and better.
'Now we've opened another in San Pedro and hopefully the success will continue.
'You know the formula is working when clients are waiting up to four weeks for a reservation and we are being visited by the likes of Sir Alan Sugar, Eva Longoria and Jamie Oliver.'
He told Spurs' official website in 2022: 'Coaching never entered my mind. Instead, I moved to Spain straight away because I'm involved in restaurants and a beach club over there.
'I thought I'd go there, it'd be a different experience. I had the freedom that I could do that.
'The hospitality industry is obviously different to football in that you're not going in with a group of lads to train, you're training on your own, but I never thought of it like that.
'I saw it as, "Your time's up, you need to go, move on to whatever next you're going to do in your life".'
With news emerging this week of the Sir Lewis-backed Neat Burgers branches closing, the ownership firm said: 'We have no further comment at this time, other than to confirm that the business has taken the difficult decision to close its UK restaurants.'
About 150 members of staff are expected to lose their jobs.
Sir Lewis became vegan back in 2017 and has since pushed for 'healthier' food options for consumers.
He has said: 'I believe we need a healthier high street option that tastes amazing and offers something exciting to those who want to be meat-free every now and again.'