27-05-2025
Tom Kerridge shuts his trendy Chelsea Butcher's Tap and Grill pub just 18 months after opening
Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge has shut his west London pub just 18 months after opening it and six months after he warned that Rachel Reeves 's Budget would decimate the hospitality industry.
Mr Kerridge only opened the doors to the Butcher's Tap and Grill in Chelsea in December 2023 following the success of the original pub in Buckinghamshire, but it is set to serve its last customers this weekend.
Housed in a two-storey Victorian property, the pub sold food such as gourmet burgers and hot dogs while the bar offered a variety of craft beers.
It racked up an impressive four star rating on TripAdvisor with many praising its steak offerings which led one reviewer to label it 'a meat eaters delight'.
But rising costs and a decrease in demand led to Mr Kerridge deciding to close the shop.
A spokesman for the chef told The Standard: 'The team has worked hard to make the concept work but nothing is a given in the challenging climate hospitality businesses now face.
'Increasing costs demand a match in revenue and turnover that has not materialised at the site, providing an opportunity to regroup, rethink and rebuild.
'The group remains confident it can learn from the experiences in Chelsea and adapt to create something great.'
The closure comes less six months after Mr Kerridge warned the Budget would have a 'catastrophic effect' on his industry.
The chef had previously endorsed Labour at the General Election and was one of 120 business figures who signed an open letter in May saying it was time to 'give Labour a chance'.
But in December last year Mr Kerridge said the rise in employers' National Insurance payments imposed by Rachel Reeves would lead to a 'huge amount of closures' in the hospitality sector.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp seized on his comments, saying: 'Labour tricked businesspeople like Tom into supporting them at the election by pretending they had no plans to significantly raise taxes.'
Mr Kerridge had said he faced additional costs of about £850 a year for each of his 200 staff - totalling £170,000.
