Restaurant closures rose in December

Restaurants are closing at their highest rate since January 2019 according to accountants Mazars, begging the question: is this the new post-Covid, post-Brexit, train striking, high inflation normal, or a return to the old normal?

However 2019 saw a lull in closures, compared to 2018 and before Covid, it was the route of the demise of the restaurant chain, with all but three of Jamie Oliver’s 25 UK restaurants closing, with the loss of 1,000 jobs, after the business called in administrators. Strada which once had 43 Italian restaurants closed a third of sites over 2017/2018 and now has just two, while gourmet burger chain Byron has been in and out of administration closing 31 restaurants and having only 20 left by 2021.