Online bookings have been removed and phone lines are unavailable
17:36, 07 Mar 2025Updated 18:02, 07 Mar 2025
Bistrot Pierre in Southport(Image: Phil Boorman Photography Ltd)
A French-style restaurant has closed its doors leaving only a note in the window behind. The restaurant has also been removed from the company website’s location list and marked as permanently closed online.
Bistrot Pierre opened in 2017 on Southport’s Lord Street. The first venue opened in Nottingham in 1994 by founders John Whitehead and Robert Beacham who are unrelated to Liverpool’s Bistro Pierre on Button Street.
The Southport restaurant closed today (March 7) with phone lines down and the booking system removed from the website. The venue has also been removed from Bistrot Pierre’s list of nationwide locations.
A note has been posted in the restaurant’s window informing customers of the closure. A statement reads: “Will Wright and Ryan Grant of Interpath Advisory were appointed joint administrators of Bristrot Pierre 19944 Limited on 7 March 2025. The restaurant is now closed.” Southport’s Bistrot Pierre is marked as permanently closed online.
A Bistrot Pierre spokesperson told the ECHO: “The future of Bistrot Pierre has been secured following a sale of a substantial part of the business to a vehicle owned by Cherry Equity Partners. The transaction, which was undertaken via a pre-pack administration process, ensures ten Bistrot Pierre sites around the country will continue to trade, safeguarding 394 jobs.
“Regrettably, eight restaurants will close immediately, resulting in 158 redundancies. The administrators will be providing all available support to those impacted as a matter of priority.” The eight sites to close include Birmingham, Mere Green, Newport, Kidderminster, Southport and Preston, Leamington Spa and Coventry.
Bistrot Pierre, Lord Street, Southport(Image: Southport Visiter)
Nick White, CEO of Bistrot Pierre, said: “We are delighted to have secured the future of the business and, with the backing of Cherry Equity Partners, now have a strong platform in place for future growth. At the same time, we are tremendously sad to see eight of our sites close.
“The impending increases in National Minimum Wage and National Insurance contributions will add hundreds of thousands of pounds to our costs, making our smaller locations simply unviable. We’d like to express our sincere thanks to our teams that have worked so hard to serve the fantastic customers that have visited these locations over the years.”
Ed Standring, CEO of Cherry Equity Partners, said: “This investment marks our second acquisition in as many months, and underscores our deep commitment to the UK hospitality sector – an industry we’re incredibly passionate about and one we believe is full of opportunity. Bistrot Pierre is a well-loved Bistrot, bar and boutique rooms business with a great heritage, and we’re looking forward to working with Nick and the team to invest and grow the business.”