I love Liverpool but it's breaking my heart watching my favourite restaurants close down

Less than one month into 2025, we’ve already said goodbye to The Italian Club Fish, Almost Famous, Viva Brazil and Point Blank, and one of my all time favourite ramen spots, KaiBaiBo, has announced it will be closing in under two weeks.

It truly feels like we’re constantly being hit with the news of shock closures and the city sadly lost dozens of businesses last year, including my personal favourites Crazy Pedro’s, The Florist, MOJO and MerseyMade.

It isn’t just the city centre suffering either, with several independent eateries on Allerton Road - including the absolutely incredible Yummy Green - saying goodbye, and Wirral cafes closing down, as the cost-of-living crisis continues to cause difficulty for small businesses.

Back in November last year, accountancy firm Price Bailey announced that roughly a fifth of all 50,900 British restaurants surveyed had negative net assets on their balance sheets and warned that more than one in ten restaurants would be at risk of closure over the next 12 months. And, I worry that this shocking prediction is coming true.

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Many closed-down restaurants across Liverpool have cited financial difficulty as the downfall of their business, with energy bills, high business rates, increased food costs and inflation reducing profit margins and making it increasingly difficult to sustain a viable business.

In fact, some chain eateries have made the decision to close despite high footfall, with Almost Famous owner Beau Myers noting: “Ironically, while our venues remain busy and our reviews are glowing, the financial pressures stacked against us have made it impossible to sustain the business.”

Just outside of Liverpool, in West Kirby, independent cafe LEAF announced its immediate closure in January, commenting that the “fragile industry looks bleaker than ever”. In a statement, LEAF’s owner noted: “Confidence, profit margins and reserves have all been eroded after years of relentless cost pressures... There is only so much of these costs that can be passed on to the consumer or swallowed by ourselves, until the business becomes unsustainable.”

Liverpool clearly remains desirable for big businesses, with Giggling Squid, UNIQLO, Sephora and Bath & Body Works set to open this year, The Ivy launching on Castle Street in 2024 and the Liverpool ONE estate reporting high footfall and sales figures. But, my concern is that our city - known for its incredible independent food and retail scene - is becoming unsurvivable for small businesses.