The threat of war in Iraq is proving just another reason for chef-proprietors whose businesses have suffered a downturn to sell up.
Steve Scuffell, chef-patron of the Tutto! restaurant in Sunningdale, Berkshire, has decided to sell after nine years, following difficult trading since 11 September and the prospect of a further decline in the economy.
"I know it's clichéd to say it, but somebody came along and made me an offer on the lease that I couldn't refuse," commented Scuffell, a former chairman of the Craft Guild of Chefs.
"Sixty percent of my customers are American, and we've cut our costs over the past year, but it's been difficult."
His two-year lease has been bought for £65,000 by South African-based coffee company Fego, which is looking to open its first outlet in the UK.
Scuffell is not alone in getting out of the business because of the economy. Bournemouth-based chef-restaurateur David Ryan sold his second restaurant, Bistro on the Bridge, in Christchurch, Dorset, at the end of last year (Caterer, 19 December 2002, page 55) after he, too, had received "an offer he couldn't refuse".
"When there's an economic crisis, restaurants are in the front line. We get hit first. If you can get out with your underpants on this time, you should do it," he said.
By Joanna Wood