Top TV chef’s restaurant chain collapses owing over £500,000 – bringing abrupt end to 33 years in business
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A TOP TV chef's restaurant chain collapsed owing more than £500,000 to creditors. Simon Rimmer's vegetarian business Greens was in operation for 33 years before its two sites were forced to close this year. Now, after the Manchester-based chain's collapse, there is more than half a million pounds left in unpaid debt.
![[TV star Simon Rimmer's restaurant chain Greens collapsed this year]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/heartbreaking-day-top-tv-chef-956909700.jpg?strip=all&w=702)
A document filed by administrator Begbies Traynor with Companies House detailed the amounts the restaurant owes to creditors. HMRC is missing the largest chunk of the funds, with an estimated £458,873 in unpaid VAT and PAYE. Trade creditors are owed an estimated £75,000 by the business, while consumer creditors, who paid for restaurant vouchers and gift cards, are missing around £35,790.
![[Simon had opened the restaurant with business partner Simon Connolly in 1990]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/heartbreaking-day-top-tv-chef-956909696.jpg?strip=all&w=702)
The Royal Bank of Scotland is also owed an estimated £13,164, according to the document reported by City AM. Begbies said these lenders will remain unpaid as there won't be enough money recovered through the administration process. Sunday Brunch star Simon's first Greens restaurant opened its doors in Didsbury, Manchester in 1990, with a second opening in nearby Sale in 2022.
![[Simon took part in Strictly in 2017, where he was partnered with pro Karen Hauer]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SHOWBIZ-Strictly-155181jpg-JS361655694.jpg?strip=all&w=722)
However, rising rents and running costs made the original restaurant "unviable" and it shut its doors back in January of this year. Then, in September, the Sale restaurant also closed, marking the end of Simon's chain. Greens was one of the first vegetarian restaurants in Manchester and the first fully vegetarian one to be featured in the Good Food Guide.
![[The restaurant owes more than £500,000 in unpaid debt]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/heartbreaking-day-top-tv-chef-956909699.jpg?strip=all&w=936)
