UK restaurant chain and 6 more businesses enter administration

This month, several UK companies have been forced to call in administrators to help save parts of all of the business. An Italian restaurant chain, a cake factory and a college are just a few examples.

It’s been a difficult year for business owners, with hundreds of them collapsing into administration every month. Rising operation costs and decreased footfall are two major reasons why this might happen, even to businesses that have been around for years and years. Here’s a roundup of all the major administration news recently that you need to know about.

Titchfield Festival Theatre

The Hampshire theatre has closed its doors and entered administration following a long-running planning row. The company behind the venue got in trouble by building a new 450-seat site without planning permission, a fact discovered by Fareham Borough Council in May 2023.

In the years that followed, local authorities attempted to force the theatre to close, while the company lodged retaliatory legal challenges.

Theatre chairman Christopher Milburn sent a message to members confirming the closure this week, effective immediately.

Sussex Bakes Ltd (More Food)

This factory had previously entered administration a decade ago and was bought out. However, the firm that bought it has now also entered administration.

More Food Ltd was purchased by Sussex Bakes in 2017, with the latter recently entering administration, according to an official notice in the London Gazette today. The business was founded in Chichester, West Sussex, in 2003.

The factory supplies a wide range of More Food and Sussex Bakes branded products, but also makes own-label baked goods for well-known high street retailers, coffee chains, restaurant groups and wholesalers.

Amiry & Gilbride Healthcare Limited

This healthcare company runs 13 stores across Scotland under LP North 14 Limited and LP North 15 Limited. After being established as a family business in 2023, it has now entered administration.

Its two prescription collection units also provide services, including prescription locker collections and free medicine pouching.

An order from the Court of Session appointed administrators to the holding company, though neither of the two subsidiaries comes under this ruling. Instead, they are expected to be sold, and the pharmacies operated by them will continue trading as normal.

Spaghetti House

The popular London restaurant chain has entered administration after seven decades in business. A notice on the Spaghetti House website apologises to customers and expresses the “deepest gratitude” to its customers over its 70 years as a family business in London.

It was founded by Simone Lavarini and his friend Lorenzo Fraquelli in the 1950s.

However, all five restaurants in the capital have now sadly closed their doors, though the reason for this is unknown.

Press Healthfoods

British smoothie and wellness brand Press Healthfoods has collapsed into administration after more than a decade in business. The London-based food and drink retailer, founded in 2013, sells a range of healthy products stocked in Asda, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer.

According to Companies House filings, the business currently employs 25 members of staff.

A statement on its website reads: “Good nutrition has the power to change every aspect of your life and drives a positive impact for our planet. It can support your immune system, give you more energy, help you manage eating habits, give you clearer skin and better digestion.”

Oxbridge Home Learning

Students have been left in limbo after the closure of this digital college. It offers GCSE, A-Level and BTEC courses, but made 11 of its 25 employees redundant last year, according to a report published this month.

It also came out that 432 unsecured claims have been made against the company, totalling £596,000, including from students.

Oxbridge said it had “tried everything possible” to find a buyer, adding that it “deeply regrets the impact this will have on students and staff”.

The Auberge Hotel

Finally, a ‘beautiful’ family run hotel with a restaurant attached has plunged into administration too. The Auberge in Yaxley is a former coaching inn, only 35 minutes from Norwich, Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, and Thetford.

The Auberge is Grade II listed, with 11 rooms and an intimate restaurant with two AA rosettes.

The company has not publicly commented on the administration yet.