- Sri Lankan restaurant group The Coconut Tree is set to be wound up after defaulting on its company voluntary arrangement (CVA). Documents filed to Companies House show the group, which currently trades from seven restaurants across England, show the group owes a total of £1.6m to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) that included VAT, PAYE and employee National Insurance payments. According to Mark Boughey and Michel Field of Forvis Mazaars, the group was required to pay £27,000 a month for an initial three months, with the payments then set to rise periodically. The arrangement was subsequently defaulted on with the joint supervisors petitioning for the company to be wound up as a result. A winding up hearing is scheduled for 16 July.
- Former MasterChef host Gregg Wallace has said he ‘will not be cancelled for convenience’ following reports that the presenter has been sacked from his job amid allegations of historical misconduct. Wallace stepped away from his role on MasterChef in November 2024 while complaints made to the BBC, including from broadcaster Kirsty Wark, who was a Celebrity MasterChef contestant in 2011 and who said he told ‘sexualised’ jokes during filming, were investigated. Now the BBC has said that it has been approached by more than 50 more people with new allegations about the presenter, which have been denied by Wallace.
- The Government has committed to banning upward only rent review (UORR) clauses in commercial leases with the hospitality sector describing the plans as ‘critical’ to cutting costs and red tape. The ban will be delivered through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, which also includes a new Community Right to Buy scheme that will give locals first refusal to purchase local assets, such as pubs, when they are put up for sale and be given an extended 12- month period to raise the funding to do so.
- Patty & Bun and The Waterman’s Arms founder Joe Grossmann is to take on well-known Soho pub The Shaston Arms. Just off Carnaby Street on Ganton Street, the diminutive pub is undergoing a refurbishment and will retain its original name when it relaunches this Autumn. The project follows the success of Grossmann’s Barnes pub The Waterman’s Arms, which launched in 2023.
- South London wine bar and restaurant Soif will close towards the end of this month after nearly 15 years trading. Writing on Instagram, the restaurant’s founders did not give a reason for the decision but said it was closing with ‘an incredibly heavy heart’. “We’ve had over a decade of fun and laughter (plus a fair amount of blood, sweat and tears), serving you knock-out dishes and the best drops in town,” the statement reads. “But every great adventure must sadly come to an end, and this is where we go our separate ways. We’d like to thank all our loyal customers, friends and suppliers who have kept us going through thick and thin, as well as all our amazing staff – old and new. We couldn’t have done it without you.”