Closure of Michelin-starred chef Michael O’Hare’s Psycho Sandbar restaurant in Leeds should sound a very loud warning bell - Jayne Dowle
So far Sir Keir Starmer’s government has steered away from any revival of ‘levelling up’. Perhaps we should be grateful that we’re not – excuse the pun – being fed the same old empty promises that fail to deliver deep and lasting actions to tackle regional inequalities.
But it must be recognised that Yorkshire has so much to offer in terms of hospitality and nightlife, putting us on a par, if not above, other regions. It’s about time we are recognised as a beacon, and the national and local government worked in favour, rather than against, in giving our contribution the support it deserves.
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Hide AdLeeds MP and Chancellor Rachel Reeves could start by taking a positive stance towards business rates, rather than using them as a stick with which to beat businesses already under the cosh of rising costs. More than 70 retailers, including Marks & Spencer and IKEA, are already calling on her to make a 20 per cent cut to the charge, which has risen in line with inflation.


It's unlikely Reeves will be sympathetic, given the £20bn black hole in public finances she keeps reminding us of, let alone extend any generosity towards hospitality. But it might be worth a reminder that these businesses are the lifeblood of our cities, towns and villages; without places for coffee or popular dinner spots, we’re talking tumbleweed.
From long-established restaurants such as Bibi’s, also in Leeds, celebrating 50 years in business this year, to quirky pop-ups in Sheffield’s Kelham Island, Saltaire brewhouses, cocktail bars in Harrogate, tea houses in Bradford and village pubs, our region has so much to offer.
O’Hare’s experience with Psycho Sandbar, which only launched in March, should sound a very loud warning bell. If such an experienced and recognised chef/restauranteur – O’Hare previously ran The Man Behind the Curtain on the same Vicar Lane site from 2014, winning Leeds’s first and only Michelin star a year later – can’t make it work, who can?
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Hide AdNaysayers might blame the upscale a la carte menu. But that would be presumptive; at £95; it was easily comparable with other top restaurants. And inventive too; foodies would not turn their noses up at the chance to sample the likes of turbot with plankton scraps, and indeed, were prepared to travel for the pleasure.
Boasting a Michelin starred chef certainly brought Leeds extra cachet.
Speaking to the BBC in March, O’ Hare said, “having a top restaurant is good for the city. The majority of our guests haven't been from the local area. All these things add to the economy of the area, it is super important.”
However, as he suggests, a perfect storm of post-pandemic aftermath, the cost of living crisis, high interest rates and inflation and changing attitudes towards what is known as ‘the night-time economy’ is taking a huge toll, threatening permanent change.
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Hide AdSuccessive governments have failed to address the significant contribution the UK’s restaurants, bars, clubs and venues make to the economy. According to the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) consumer spend in the UK’s night-time economy was £136.5bn in 2022, up from £95.7bn in 2021.
However, because of inflation, there was no growth in turnover.
In real terms, then the value of the night-time economy is falling – from £37.2bn in 2019 to £33.3bn in 2022, and that was before the disastrous Liz Truss government sent interest rates skywards.
It’s not just restaurants. In February, famous Leeds nightclub Pryzm, on Woodhouse Street, closed with immediate effect and the loss of 55 jobs, when owners, Rekon UK, went into administration.
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Hide AdAnd it’s not just Leeds. In my own hometown, Barnsley, the new multi-million pound Glassworks development, hailed as a cornerstone of regeneration, is suffering the loss of chain restaurant TGI Fridays, which is closing a third of its UK branches. Halifax, plus two in Leeds, including Leeds Trinity, are closing too.
Only days before O’Hare’s announcement, the NTIA launched Darkest Before Dawn, an important manifesto for the night-time economy.
Key recommendations include moving responsibility for the night time economy from the Home Office to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, appointing a minister for the night-time economy (perhaps raving Angela Rayner could oversee that one?) and introducing a duty on local authorities to create an overarching local night-time strategy taking in culture, regeneration, policing and public health.
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