Health food restaurant closes
A HEALTH food restaurant has shut its branch in Birmingham’s Brindleyplace after “struggling to establish itself ”.
Friska closed its doors because it cannot compete with ‘full service’ restaurants in the area, claim bosses.
But the company is now planning to launch another venue elsewhere in the city.
It opened its first Birmingham venue on the ground floor of Eleven Brindleyplace in February 2016 and later eyed the former Lloyds Bank unit in Newhall Street though this never came to fruition.
However, the Brindleyplace restaurant closed this week with thelos of seven jobs. The company is now planning to focus on growing its market in Manchester this year 2018.
A company statement said: “With a very heavy heart, Friska founders Ed Brown and Griff Holland have announced the closure of their Birmingham site in Brindleyplace. The unit was the first site in Birmingham and was opened with much optimism in 2016.
“However, despite a great reputation as a breakfast and lunchtime venue, Friska has struggled to establish itself in an area which seems to be more of a natural home to full service restaurant operators and bars like CAU, Wagamama and Slug and Lettuce.
“This, coupled with a lack of a solid property pipeline within Birmingham, has forced the founders to close the site and refocus their energy on Manchester as their target cluster city for 2018. Despite the difficult decision being made, the founders fully expect to be back in Birmingham in the not too distant future.”
Friska, which was founded in Bristol in 2009, was open during the week only and was aimed at the breakfast and lunchtime markets, serving soups, salads and hot wraps, chilli, noodles and porridge.
But despite its high volume of office workers, Brindleyplace is already well served with places to buy sandwiches or larger lunches in several bars and restaurants.
Mr Holland added: “We cannot speak more highly of our team and the reputation they have built since opening.
“Making this call has been the toughest decision we’ve had to make and our main focus is on supporting the team while they look for new employment opportunities.”