Emba, Leeds: Owner says “no meaningful help is coming” as award-winning restaurant closes
An award-winning Leeds restaurant has announced it will close its doors, with its owner pointing to rising costs and mounting pressure on the hospitality sector.
Emba confirmed the decision in a statement shared with customers on Friday (Jan 30), saying the current conditions meant independent restaurants could no longer survive.
Owner Elizabeth Cottam said she was “totally heartbroken” by the closure, but added she was “not surprised”, pointing to what she described as crushing costs across the industry and the impact of the recent Budget.
“This is no longer the right time to own independent restaurants like Emba,” she said. “Under the current conditions they cannot survive and the recent budget confirmed what so many of us already knew: no meaningful help is coming for hospitality.”
She said it was “obviously not just us”, adding that she was seeing rising costs force the closure of what she described as some of the country’s most renowned restaurants, while those in power “simply do not listen”.
Ms Cottam said Emba had opened following the closure of HOME, driven by her belief in the importance of restaurants as spaces that bring people together and create lasting memories. However, she said Leeds – like cities across the country – had changed dramatically since the pandemic.
“The experience of being here and the harsh financial reality of running a business here no longer stack up,” she said.
She added that behind the scenes there was “very little magic” for restaurant owners, describing health-damaging stress, constant worry and the hope of surviving conditions she said were no longer sustainable.
“Being award winning, popular, admired and loved no longer means profitable and as an industry if we’re honest most of us have not truly been okay since Covid,” she said.
Ms Cottam said she was hearing the same concerns repeatedly from chefs and restaurant owners as Emba moves through the closure process, warning of the impact of further measures including increases in business rates and rising employment costs.
She said it was heartbreaking to consider what the restaurant landscape could look like by the end of the year as costs continue to rise “day after day”.
Despite the decision to close, she thanked customers for their support and praised her team, describing them as “the very best of this industry”.
“If love were the secret weapon we’d be winning,” she said.
Emba will continue trading for a limited time, with bookings open until Saturday (Mar 1). Ms Cottam said she planned to continue cooking and creating in the future.
“What I do know is this,” she said. “I am not done. I will keep cooking, keep creating and keep finding ways to do the thing I love.”