Glynn Purnell closes Asquith after row with landlord
Birmingham-based chef Glynn Purnell has closed his restaurant the Asquith after a fall out with the landlord.
The two-time Great British Menu winner, who also runs his eponymous Michelin-starred restaurant in the city, closed the Asquith on Sunday after just six months. He launched the restaurant last summer, on the former site of Pascal's in Edgbaston, which was previously Jessica's, the restaurant where he gained his first Michelin star.
The closure of the Asquith comes following a dispute with landlord Tony Gayden, whose hotel/motel business Totel has collapsed into compulsory liquidation.
Purnell claimed he had been forced to temporarily close the Asquith after Gayden allegedly failed to pay a back-dated water bill, which resulted in the restaurant being cut off from its supply.
"Everything was going ticking along quite nicely, we had good reviews etc and then the water just stopped because it was connected to the apartment next door and we found out he hadn't paid the water bill and so the restaurant had to shut for two weeks in November," he told Caterersearch.com.
"They have taken control of the building off him and I've just taken all of my equipment and staff, who have all been let go, but they are all going on to work at temping agencies because I'm about to sign a new lease in a couple of weeks for a premises in the centre of Birmingham with the same name, head chef and restaurant manager."
Purnell said the new site would be in a busier location in the heart of the city centre.
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By Kerstin Kuhn & Gemma Rowbotham
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