MasterChef winner abruptly shuts award-winning restaurant and tells fans ‘we just cannot make this work’
A TOP chef has announced the sudden closure of his Michelin-recommended restaurant saying: "We just cannot make this work".
Simon Wood, 48, said his fine dining establishment WOOD Manchester had ceased trading as it faced down rent arrears, rising bills and spiralling ingredients costs.
In a defiant message to fans on X, formerly Twitter, the chef wrote: "Thank you to everyone for the messages of support I’ve received today.
"Also, Thanks to those who have stuck the boot in while I’m down, either with unnecessary words or deafening silence I may well be down, but I’m not out, and I really do appreciate the motivation."
The dad of four from Saddleworth, Manchester, opened his self-titled bistro seven years ago, creating dishes with "seasonal, high welfare and foraged" produce.
Guests could expect to fork out £125 for his "Chef's Selection Menu" and wine flight - which featured veal sweetbreads and hand-dived scallops.
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The restaurant's website was still advertising its £60 per head Christmas menu when Simon took to social media to say it had shut for good.
Writing in a post on Facebook, he said: "Dear Friends, Customers and Suppliers of WOOD Manchester.
"It is with much regret that I have to inform you that I must close the doors here at WOOD for good, with immediate effect.
"We have had 7 years as part of the Manchester City dining scene and I'm very proud of what the team and I have achieved.
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"Sadly with COVID rent arrears now being demanded by our landlord and an increasingly difficult marketplace, energy increases, ingredient costs and soon-to-be spiralling business rates we just cannot make this work.
"I'd like to thank everyone for your support and patronage over the years."
Simon was a data scientist for almost 20 years before he quit his job and took on a career in hospitality.
He became a professional chef aged 38 in 2015 when he won the amateur version of MasterChef.
Simon then went on to open WOOD Manchester in 2017 and WoodKraft, in Cheltenham, in 2018.
WOOD Manchester was Michelin-recommended in 2019 and has won the double AA Rosette award.
Last year, Simon said acclaimed shows like The Bear, which revealed the struggles faced by many in the hospitality industry, gave chefs the respect they ";deserved".
He said: "I have seen all the things that happen on these shows at some point - even in the space of 40 minutes.
"People love the drama that comes with high-end hospitality, and I think it's all shown in drama TV programmes like The Bear and Boiling Point.
"It can be just as intense in real life.
"You get stressful moments where all the cheques arrive at once, or someone drops the sauce, burns the food and cuts their fingers.
"The flare-ups between each other [are realistic].
"Also, most definitely the shouting, swearing, raw intensity, you see in these programmes, I think, is all very factual - It's true to the life of a functioning kitchen."
Restaurant chains continue to feel the pinch
The hospitality sector has struggled to bounce back after the pandemic, facing challenges including soaring energy bills, inflation and staff shortages.
TRG, which owned Frankie & Benny's, Chiquito and Wagamama, revealed that it would shut down around 40 sites by April 2024 and went on to sell its Frankie & Bennys and Chiquito brands to Cafe Rouge owner The Big Table group.
Tasty, the owner of Wildwood, said it will shut sites as part of major restructuring plans.
Stonegate has also raised fears about its survival as it races to plug its debts.
Earlier this year, Whitbread revealed plans to slash its chain of branded restaurants across the UK.
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Italian dining chain Prezzo revealed plans to shut 46 restaurants back in April 2023 as a result of soaring energy and food costs, putting 810 jobs at risk.
And in January 2023, Byron Burger fell into administration with owners saying it would result in the loss of over 200 jobs.
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun's business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
