Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson has become the latest victim of the recession, closing the doors on one of his pubs, The Greyhound in Berkshire.
Worrall Thompson, who owns five other pubs and restaurants, says he noticed a decline in business at The Greyhound a month before Christmas.
“We were running about 12% to 15% down on the previous year. Then suddenly December was down by 35%,” he told the BBC.
“Just because I'm a TV celebrity it doesn't mean you're doing any better than anyone else.”
It's not just The Greyhound that has seen a drop in sales, with midweek trade virtually at a standstill at all his country pubs, Worrall-Thompson admitted.
“I am seeing it generally, the other ones aren't doing that well either, there's no doubt about it,” he said.
“It's reverting back to the 70s. Saturday night and Sunday lunch they busy. But you can't survive on that nowadays, the wages are all different and you can't survive on two sessions a week.”
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By Daniel Thomas
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