Blackhouse enters administration

Living Ventures has placed its Blackhouse and Newgate businesses into administration, affecting four restaurants.

The limited companies operate three Blackhouse Grill steakhouse restaurants in Leeds, Glasgow and Manchester and one Olive restaurant in Liverpool.

Administrators Duff & Phelps were appointed to both companies and will be leading the process and seek to find a buyer.

Scott Grimbleby, managing director of the businesses, said: “We have explored every avenue possible to try to save the business, however we have been left with no choice but to take this incredibly difficult decision now. We are working with all our teams to try and support them as best we can through this time. The administrators will be seeking to find a buyer for the businesses.”

The Blackhouse business was due to exit a CVA process it had agreed with creditors in March this year but was prevented from doing so by the crisis and enforced closure of the restaurants.

In 2018, the group launched a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) process for then five-strong Blackhouse, with the closure of two sites, in London’s Smithfields, and Manchester’s Grill on the Alley.

Before that there were an additional two Blackhouse restaurants, in Chester and Hale, which closed in 2016.

Also in 2018, Living Ventures appointed administrators for flagship venues Artisan and Manchester House Bar and Restaurant, after a period of difficult trading over the summer.

The group, which was co-founded by the late Tim Bacon and Jeremy Roberts, established The Alchemist, New World Trading Company and Gusto Italian, before each businesses was separately spun off in a private equity-backed management buy-out.