Michael Caines permanently closes The Harbourside Refuge
In a statement posted on The Harbourside Refuge's website, Caines confirmed the restaurant had closed on 1 August and is on the market for sale.
“Due to the economic climate and the on-going challenges that are facing the hospitality industry as a whole it has been a difficult decision and with a heavy heart that we have taken the decision to close,” the statement reads.
Caines, who launched The Harbourside Refuge in the summer of 2020 after acquiring the site from Rick Stein's restaurant group, announced in October last year that the restaurant would close for the winter and remain shut 'for the foreseeable future' in a bid to weather the economic storm battering the sector.
However, it is understood that he had hoped to be able to reopen restaurant at some point.
“Our decision to close [permanently] has not been taken lightly however we sincerely hope to see you again soon at one of the Michael Caines restaurants,” the chef's statement adds.
The restaurant has been put on the market with Rightmove for £250,000.
Caines' South West-based portfolio also includes The Cove at Maenporth in Falmouth and Lympstone Manor in Devon, both of which continue to operate.
Many members of The Harbourside Refuge's team relocated to The Cove in Maenporth last year following the initial closure.
More and more restaurant businesses across the country are being forced to scale back operations and, in many instances, close sites permanently amid spiralling inflation and the impact of the cost of living crisis.
Recently, Sven-Hanson Britt closed his debut London restaurant Oxeye, less than two years after opening it. Meanwhile, in Scotland, popular Glasgow restaurant Monadh Kitchen closed its doors last month, with its owners blaming the ‘financial burden of the world we live in’.
Figures published by accountancy firm Price Bailey show that restaurant closures reached the highest quarterly figure in a decade in the first quarter of the year.
Some 569 restaurant businesses entered insolvency in Q1 2023, according to the data, with a total of 2,028 businesses collapsing over the past 12 months.
