Paul Heathcote, the North West-based chef and restaurateur, has closed two restaurants - his flagship Simply Heathcotes in Liverpool and Olive Press in Leeds.
The Olive Press restaurant in Leeds closed last Wednesday (25 August), with 17 redundancies.
It comes days after the closure of Simply Heathcotes, which has been open for 10 years.
Heathcote had reportedly blamed the closure of the restaurant on the demolition of a nearby bridge link, which significantly reduced footfall to the area.
Commenting on the closure of his Olive Press site in Leeds, a spokeswoman said the site had simply suffered from a fall in footfall post recession, and the “tough decision” had been taken to close it.
Heathcote Restaurants now operates The Longridge Restaurant, near Ribble Valley, London Road Restaurant & Wine Bar in Alderley Edge and Grado Restaurant & Tapas bar in central Manchester.
The Olive Press, its six strong Italian restaurant chain, now includes sites in Clitheroe, Cheadle Hulme, Bolton, Liverpool, Manchester and Preston.
