The owner of a Ƶ steak chain that fell into administration says his Bristol restaurant is "very much open for business" following the collapse of its parent company.
Steak of the Art - a unique dining and art gallery concept - was run by a company called GroupCo Ltd which appointed administrators last month.
The restaurant's Cardiff branch has closed permanently and its staff made redundant, but the Bristol site is continuing to trade as normal.
Speaking exclusively to Business Live, Steve Bowen, who founded the steak chain in 2012, said that challenges caused by the Covid pandemic had been compounded by the cost-of-living-crisis and the rising price of food.
“It’s tough being a restaurateur. Steak isn’t cheap and it’s not getting cheaper. Europe has foot and mouth at the moment, so a lot of beef imports have stopped. That has meant local beef is going up in price.
“We are evolving our menu and offering other dishes including vegan, chicken and fish, as well as promotions to encourage people in, but it’s difficult.”
The company has launched an ‘express menu’ offering steak and a house drink for £12.95 in a bid to attract more lunchtime footfall.
“I don’t know anywhere else you would be able to buy a steak and drink that cheaply,” said Mr Bowen. "We are an independent so we don’t have a big business sitting behind us that can sustain us through rough times. Rough times absolutely hurt us.
“People used to go out two, three or even four times a week midweek. But now we are trying to compete with food-to-door delivery companies.”
Mr Bowen said scaffolding that had surrounded his Bristol restaurant for a year had also added to the problems.
“You couldn’t see our restaurant and it was a no-go zone for a long time. We missed a significant amount of walk-in trade. The only business we were picking up had made a decision because they knew where we were.
"The scaffolding is coming down now and the hope is the trade we lost is going to come back.”
Mr Bowen is calling on the government to do more to support the restaurant industry, including reassessing VAT rates as well as business rates on premises.
“For a year or so after Covid, restaurants were allowed to enjoy a VAT reduction to 5% and that was helpful. The ‘eat out to help out’ scheme was also a stroke of genius. And that supported us for about 12 months.
“About a year after Covid had ended we started to see costs creeping up and the honeymoon period disappeared.”
