Eldon Square’s Kitchen closure not Great news
A BRITISH seaside-themed restaurant in Newcastle city centre will not be reopening when lockdown eases after going into liquidation.
George’s Great British Kitchen, which has a branch in Eldon Square, was wound up in February accruing estimated debts of more than £442,000.
It was reported the business owes an estimated £138,000 to staff and £144,000 to Revenue and Customs for tax and insurance.
The chain restaurant, known for its beach huts, gin bar and quirky take on “proper British food,” folded owing a further £160,000 to trade creditors.
It also had branches in Nottingham, Leeds and Liverpool.
The opening of the George’s GBK restaurants marked an expansion following the success of fish and chip shops, George’s Tradition, run by old school friends Andrew Constantinou and Nick Hogan.
The GBK restaurants were sold to Adel Investments Limited in December 2019.
George’s Great British Kitchen was the first eatery to open in Eldon Square’s Grey’s Quarter – a £25m dining development – in 2017.
It closed its doors in March 2020 - the day before the first national Covid-19 lockdown was announced - but was the only one of the four branches of George’s not to reopen when restrictions eased later in the year.
In September last year several members
of the Newcastle restaurant’s 20+ staff contacted us saying they had not received furlough payments for more than two months.
The news is a further blow to Eldon Square, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis.
Last month we reported how almost half the shopping centre could be empty by the end of lockdown.
A Newcastle City Council boss said major sections of the site would be “fairly dark” as the collapse of Debenhams saw it lose one of its major department stores.
All Topshop sites are being shut following the brand’s purchase by ASOS and other shops like Thornton’s are also gone for good.
Eldon Square was taken under new management last year after previous owner Intu went into administration and it was revealed in November the Covid pandemic had wiped more than £50 million off the council’s stake in the centre.
However, the centre opened its doors to droves of customers on Monday, who flocked to popular retailers such as Fenwick, Next, Apple and Morphe.
Andy Bradley, general manager at Eldon Square, said it was “absolutely amazing” to be opening its doors for a “brand new beginning for retail.”
He said: “Shopping is one of the top 10 favourite leisure activities in the UK and we think we will be able to entice customers back into the centre.
“After the buzz of Christmas to go into lockdown it has been tough for people. Today marks a brand new beginning for retail.”