Popular chain announces shock closure of three more bars in latest shake-up
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A POPULAR bar chain has closed three more sites in its latest shake up. The New World Trading Company, which runs the Botanist bars, has closed sites in Coventry, Sheffield and Chester this month. The latest round of closures follows the shuttering of three sites in October 2024.
![[Interior view of The Botanist Bar, featuring a tropical theme with hanging plants and lights.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/botanist-bar-new-world-trading-963514047.jpg?strip=all&w=750)
The company has been undergoing a restructure after encountering difficulties and confirmed the bars were not profitable. Those closed this month included two Botanist sites and a North Light bar in Chester. The three closed last year were the Florist in Liverpool, the Botanist in Knutsford and the Botanist in Alderley Edge.
The bar operator also operates brands including the Oast House, and the Trading House. In October 2024 New World Trading Centre agreed a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA), when it said it would refocus on its Botanist brand. A CVA is a restructuring measure that lets businesses continue to trade whilst also closing stores and pushing through rent cuts.
The chain had experienced financial difficulties following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, rising inflation and the cost-of-living crisis. As well as closing sites the group has rebranded others and said it would open a new Botanist site in Bournemouth in May 2025.
It currently operates 24 sites under the Botanist brand. In its last published accounts the New World Trading Company reported a pre-tax loss of £4.9million for the year to 31 March 2023. The New World Trading Company is not the only bar group to have announced closures this year.
