Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs opened George’s Dining Room and Bar in 2014 with two school friends but after more than 10 years, the eatery has been forced to shut down due to rising costs
Ryan Giggs’ restaurant went bust after being wound up with debts of £563,600, figures show. George’s Dining Room and Bar closed its doors suddenly last month due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
The Manchester United legend opened the George’s in Worsley in Manchester in 2014 after teaming up with school friends Kelvin Gregory and Bernie Taylor. But after more than 10 years of trading, staff were told by text that the eatery would be closing due to rising costs, with managers telling them they “regret to announce that with a heavy heart we have no alternative but to close George’s effective immediately”.
The message added: “This is due to the obvious reduction in trade and business against the huge increases in costs of operating the business and the ongoing cost of living crisis.”
Giggs had set up George’s under the parent company RKB Venture Ltd, but on March 7 the business was dissolved. The restaurant’s financial struggles have now been revealed by The Sun. That included the firm owing £129,357 to traders, with £75,616 in taxes and £44,095 owed in bank loans and overdrafts, the latest set of accounts for RKB Ventures Ltd show.
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Last month, stunned staff say they were told they would be paid outstanding wages in “due course” as well as notice payment, and for “those to whom it applies a redundancy payment.”
One staff member, who asked not to be named, said: “It came totally out of the blue, we were all supposed to be working today and then we got the text messages through, we are all stunned.”
The sign on the door of the closed restaurant read: “To all our customers, due to unforeseen circumstances, unfortunately George’s will be closed for the weekend. We are sorry for any inconvenience. George’s team.”
When George’s was opened, a red carpet event was held and attended by Giggs’ former Manchester United team-mates, including Nicky Butt, Gary Neville and Bryan Robson. Giggs said he had always hoped of starting a project with Gregory and Taylor and felt they had something unique to offer the area of Worsley.
“We’ve known each other for 30 years and we always said it would be great to do something like this together. “We’re all local lads and have lived in this area all our lives so we wanted to do something in Worsley and we think we’ve got a really different offering for the area.”
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