Popular Newcastle gastropub The Earl of Pitt Street ceased trading owing more than 拢1.4m, documents have shown.
The bar and restaurant suddenly closed its doors last month after more than 10 years of dishing up exciting food, wines and beers in a warm atmosphere, earning it the title of the best place to go for Sunday dinner in the city in a poll by sister site ChronicleLive. It had initially put up messages on its website saying it was 鈥渃losed until further notice鈥, but owner Mark Lagun later confirmed the venue鈥檚 closure, highlighting a delayed Covid recovery amongst factors contributing to its demise.
Liquidators at Leonard Curtis have now been appointed to the firm behind the business, Electric East Ltd, and documents filed at companies house show it had total deficiency of 拢1.478m. The lion鈥檚 share of that sum 鈥 拢1.2m 鈥 relates to the firm鈥檚 main shareholder, but around 拢177,514 is also owed to trade and expense creditors.
The documents include a list of creditors which include some food and drink suppliers, but the creditors which are owed significantly more include Lloyds Bank Commercial which is owed 拢34,949, Newcastle City Council, owed 拢10,542, British Gas Business which is owed 拢6,164, and HMRC which is owed 拢49,487. A business connected to the major shareholder, Pitt West End Ltd, is also owed 拢136,667.
When the pub closed, Mr Lagun 鈥 who previously ran eateries including Electric East, Barn Again and Barn Asia 鈥 said: 鈥淚 am now officially able to state that The Earl of Pitt Street has closed after ten and a half years trading.
鈥淪ince Covid we never really recovered, and the planned 240+ houses on the land directly opposite us never materialised. Another peculiar anomaly was that we garnered such a massive reputation for our Sunday lunch, that it was the only days (other than match days) that anybody wanted to visit. A massive thank you to our team for their efforts, especially my front of house girls, who were one of the best teams I鈥檇 been part of in my 45 years in the industry.鈥
The closure of The Earl of Pitt Street has been followed by the loss of a number of other popular independent leisure operators, including Leila Lily鈥檚, Riverside and the Hard Rock Cafe.
Elsewhere, bar and restaurant Horticulture and its sister venues El Guapo and Horticulture Coastal remain closed while the owner decides its future, and beloved speakeasy bar Prohibition, where Sam Fender famously gave a surprise performance in 2023, this week became the latest city centre site to announce its closure due to spiralling running costs.
Earlier this week council bosses pledged to 鈥渄o all we can鈥 to protect Newcastle city centre鈥檚 bar and restaurant scene in the wake of the high profile closures. A meeting is planned with city centre traders to help address the problems they are facing.
