Channel 4 TV chef’s restaurant chain collapses owing £500,000 in debt-Pierra Willix-Entertainment – Metro

Sunday Brunch presenter Simon Rimmer’s restaurant chain owes more than £500,000 (Picture: Jonathan Hordle/ Shutterstock)

Celebrity chef Simon Rimmer’s collapsed restaurant chain owes more than £500,000 to creditors.

In 1990 the Sunday Brunch host bought Greens, a vegetarian restaurant in West Didsbury, Manchester, alongside Simon Connolly, becoming its head chef.

The restaurant went on to become the first purely vegetarian restaurant to appear in The Good Food Guide and was followed by another that opened in Sale, Greater Manchester, in 2022.

However earlier this year the Sale restaurant was closed due to the cost-of-living crisis and was then followed by the other in September.

At the time it was announced the decision had been made to ‘close the doors permanently of with immediate effect’ as it was ‘now clear the business is untenable’.

A few months on it’s now been revealed the business, which was in operation for 33 years, has more than half a million pounds left in unpaid debt.

The celebrity chef closed both of his Greens restaurants this year (Picture: Matt McNulty/ Getty Images)

In a document filed by administrator Begbies Traynor with Companies House, the amounts the restaurant owes to creditors has been broken down.

The most is owed to HMRC, with an estimated £458,873 in unpaid VAT and PAYE.

Meanwhile trade creditors are owed an estimated £75,000, while consumer creditors, who paid for restaurant vouchers and gift cards, are missing around £35,790.

The Royal Bank of Scotland is also owed an estimated £13,164.

He’s hosted the Channel 4 show alongside Tim Lovejoy since 2012 (Picture: Steve Meddle/ Rex/ Shutterstock)

Begbies has said these lenders will remain unpaid as there won’t be enough money recovered through the administration process.

‘In September 2024, the remaining directors accepted that the outstanding debt could not be paid through either trading or time to pay schemes and the responsible thing to do was to go into administration,’ the document detailed.

Following the closure of his second restaurant, Simon said it was a ‘heartbreaking’ development.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News he said the chain was the ‘cornerstone of his life’ and making the decision to close it was the hardest he’d ever made in his business career.

He also competed on Strictly in 2017 (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/ PA)

After initially studying fashion and textile design Simon later taught himself to cook before opening Greens 34 years ago.

His TV career began with Granada Breeze before other appearances came on This Morning and The One Show, before hosting Something for the Weekend with Tim Lovejoy between 2006 and 2012.

The year that series ended, they moved to Channel 4 to present Sunday Brunch.

He’s also featured on Great British Menu, Celebrity Mastermind and Strictly Come Dancing.

Metro has contacted representatives for Simon Rimmer for comment.

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