Latest news with #OpenRestaurantGroup
BBC News
04-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
New owners take over Tenbury Wells restaurant Pensons
A new "farm-to-fork" restaurant is to open on the site of a former Michelin Star-winning establishment in run by the independent hospitality group Open Restaurant Group (ORG), will open in the old Pensons restaurant near Tenbury closed in December 2022, citing financial is expected to open in May. ORG is owned by award-winning chef Andrew Sheridan, along with his business partners Sam and Emma runs seven other restaurants around the country, including Black & Green and Cofton on the Green, both in Barnt Green, Worcestershire, and The Bracebridge in Sutton Coldfield."We are absolutely delighted to be taking over Pensons," said Mr Sheridan. "We will be focusing on the farm-to-fork dining and the abundant ingredients available in the restaurant's kitchen garden." Pensons, based on the 1,200-acre Netherwood Estate, opened in January 2019 and was awarded a Michelin Star later that 2022, it also won a Michelin Green Star for sustainability but shut its doors at the end of the following a zero-waste restaurant, moved into the building in April 2024 but closed suddenly last month. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Telegraph
21-02-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
‘Britain's draconian taxes mean we'll open our next restaurant in Dubai'
Britain's 'draconian' taxes are prompting a high-end restaurant group to shun the country and open in places like Dubai instead. Sam Morgan, the chief executive of Open Restaurant Group, said he was seeking out sites in the Gulf city and other international markets rather than within his home country. He said: 'Growth is significantly stifled by what we'd call draconian tax processes, not only the volume of the taxes, what the percentages are and the high rates of them, but also the number of them. 'Not only is the sum of money so significant that it stifles [us], it's also the practice of having to administer it, and on top of all that you've got what I call stealth taxes: you've got to pay to have confirmation statements registered, you've got to pay to have your accounts registered, you've got to pay Companies House ... I listed them all at our senior management meeting, and the total amount of taxes and stealth taxes that this business pays is 37.' Open Restaurant Group has seven eateries across the UK. Its flagship restaurant, 8 by Andrew Sheridan in Liverpool, serves tasting menus that cost £110. Mr Morgan runs the group with Mr Sheridan, a chef who has appeared on BBC Two's Great British Menu. Mr Morgan said the business would continue to invest in its UK sites but would focus on expanding in places such as Dubai, where taxes are lower. He said: 'If you're asking me if we're looking to open number eight or number nine in the United Kingdom, the answer to that at the moment, unless something golden crosses our door, would be no. It would be reckless of me as a chief executive to continue opening in the United Kingdom.' He added: '[Dubai] is a location that arguably is the opposite in relation to tax regime. It's a country that's extremely progressive and aggressive with moving forward. It's one that embraces our type of dining offering. It's also a country that progressively speaks English and therefore is easy for us to navigate.' Almost 250,000 British people now live in Dubai and international moving company John Mason has said it has seen a 420pc rise in enquiries from UK nationals wishing to emigrate there. Mr Morgan said: 'There's certain things for us to navigate that are new – alcohol licences out there are a little bit more complex – but in some ways, how they go about business is very old-fashioned, and I mean that in a good way.' The focus on Dubai comes as hospitality chiefs are bracing for the impact of higher employer National Insurance (NI) contributions from April. The earnings threshold at which the levy kicks in is also being lowered, meaning many more part-time workers will be dragged into the tax bracket. Mr Morgan said his company, which employs 73 people, faced the prospect of paying £76,000 in extra National Insurance contributions and would potentially have to raise prices as a result, though the business will absorb some of the costs. He said: 'The biggest problem for hospitality is that, once upon a time, NI wouldn't commence until you hit the threshold. That threshold has been lowered so significantly now that just about all of your staff are pulled into that.' 'Stifling' wage bill
