Celebrity chef Simon Rimmer's Greens restaurants owe more than £500,000 after sudden closures
A restaurant chain owned by celebrity chef Simon Rimmer which closed unexpectedly owes more than half a million pounds to creditors it has been revealed.
The 61-year-old's two Greens restaurants in Greater Manchester closed their doors for the final time earlier in 2024.
The Didsbury restaurant, in South Manchester which opened 34 years ago, had been a cornerstone of the local food scene and was seen as a trailblazer in vegetarian and vegan cuisine.
But in January, the TV chef announced its shock closure. Just eight months later, a second Greens site in Sale closed after opening just two years prior.
Documents filed to Companies House show there is more than £500,000 in unpaid debt.
An announcement following the second closure stated that the "business was untenable".
A document filed to Companies House by administrator Begbies Traynor revealed the figures owed by the chain to creditors.
The document reads: “It is estimated that HMRC are owed a total of £458,873 comprised of unpaid VAT and PAYE.
“We understand that [Royal Bank of Scotland] were owed £13,164.10 at the time of the administrators’ appointment.
“Trade creditors are estimated in the sum of £75,067 with three claims totalling £1,923 received by the administrators to date. Consumer creditors who have paid for restaurant vouchers and gift cards are estimated to be owed £35,790.”
Begbies Traynor says these lenders will remain unpaid, as there will not be enough money recovered through the administration process.
The restaurant was the brainchild of the Sunday Brunch star and his business partner Simon Connolly.
Rimmer, who has more recently designed a new Mediterranean-inspired menu for the exclusive Hideaway bar at the Co-op Live arena.
Speaking about the loss of his first restaurant, he said: "It was heartbreaking, just heartbreaking. [It was] my very first restaurant. I've grown up there. I've had kids there.
"I've grown from being a boy to a man, started a television career, bought my house off the back of it. Greens was the cornerstone of my life."
"To close it was definitely the hardest decision of all of my business life. And then, finding that we couldn't sustain Sale and having to close the doors there, shutting both of them in the space of 12 months, has been heartbreaking.
"The outpouring of love and emotion from people was so humbling. Particularly with Didsbury. We'd been there since 1990. We always say that when we opened Greens, West Didsbury wasn't the place it is now. It was still quite rough and ready."
Rimmer said that the shock closure of Greens was an example of the challenges faced by the hospitality industry.