Hospitality

The Secret Restaurateur: Businesses which survived the 2010 crash are flagging now

Our industry insider is feeling more than a little worried about restaurant closures

‘With mounting energy bills, families won’t have the same level of disposable income to spend in restaurants.’ Picture: Getty

Is it my imagination, or have there been quite a lot of restaurant closures over the summer?

Business owners are prone to a bit of paranoia at the best of times, but my sense is that many restaurants have had a very rocky September. Mine certainly has. Once the weather turned a little more autumnal and the kids went back to school, bookings took a nosedive, leading to a lot of hand-wringing about whether we ...