Devastation as three Greater Manchester restaurants announce shock closures in less than 24 hours

Manchester’s hospitality sector has been left reeling after three restaurants across the city region closed their doors for good over less than 24 hours.

In a shocking triple blow to the restaurant industry the eateries Zing and Zest, Canvas and the Vurger Co have all shut down in quick succession this week. The closures come amid soaring energy and trading costs.

The Vurger Co was the first to reveal its sudden closure yesterday afternoon (February 21) citing 'soaring' costs and 'plunging' sales in the wake of the pandemic.

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The Northern Quarter fast food spot with a 100 percent plant-based menu only made its Manchester debut last year after first establishing itself in London and Brighton. The chain has said it is closing all three locations.

In a post on Instagram the co-owners said they had 'poured their souls' into the business since initially building a community in 2016 but that half of those eight years had been ‘total turmoil’ due to the pandemic.

They continued that the last couple of years have also brought ‘seemingly endless domestic and international crises’ leading to ‘soaring costs’ through inflation and ‘plunging sales’ due to a reduction in customers’ spending power creating ‘a perfect storm’ for hospitality.

“To say that the industry is in crisis doesn’t even come close right now," the co-owners added.

They went on to urge the Government to 'wake up' to the situation, calling for lower VAT, reforms to hospitality business rates, a reduction in National Insurance, and energy support.

Today the city region suffered two further blows with both Zing and Zest and