‘Death by 1,000 cuts’ – Steve Drake suddenly closes Michelin-starred Sorrel
Michelin-starred Surrey restaurant Sorrel has suddenly closed its doors, with owner Steve Drake describing the situation as “death by 1,000 cuts”.
Earlier this year, Steve put Sorrel on the market, in the hope to seek some financial support from an investor or find somebody to take it on themselves.
Sadly, that did not materialise.
Why has Sorrel closed?
Speaking to The Staff Canteen, Steve explained: “We’ve had to close the business.
“It’s pretty devastating.
“We just ran out of money, to be honest. We weren’t making any money.
“There’s a minimum level of service and staffing we needed and we weren’t even breaking even towards the end.
“It was pretty rough, to be honest.”
Steve opened the Dorking restaurant in 2017, stepping aside from day-to-day kitchen duties last year, with Alex Payne taking on the role of chef patron, having moved across from The Tudor Pass.
It marked an end of 35 years in kitchens for Steve, but despite his decades of industry experience, keeping Sorrel afloat was something he ultimately was unable to do any longer.
Asked if the writing was on the wall when he put the restaurant on the market earlier this year, Steve said: “I kind of knew then that we needed help. That’s kind of why I did it.
“I remember thinking, this is really quite scary, what’s ahead.
“We had lost a lot of money last year.
“We got to this financial year from April 1, and I had a pretty good plan. We could at worst break even, but we still had the historical debt that we built up last year.
“Without actually making any profit, there was no way to pay any of it off.
“The NI contributions and minimum wage went up in April and the rate relief got reduced.
“It just seemed never ending that there’s a little hurdle put in your way at every turn.
“The ironic thing is that we get called an expensive restaurant, but we were making no money. It was really sad.”
How staff took the news
Sorrel employed around 10 full-time workers and six on casual hours, who had to be informed by Steve they were suddenly going to be out of work.
“There’s obviously the practical side of it, which is rubbish, but the emotional side of it as well,” said Steve.
“Alex only started last June and, for him and the guys, they’re obviously very upset.
“They’re very upset with me, because I haven’t been able to have that platform for them that they desperately wanted, to showcase what they were doing.
“But I just couldn’t keep sustaining it. It was just too much, too much in losses, to be honest.
“I’m really, really gutted for them, and the front of house team who have worked so hard.”
He added: “I’ve taken a bit of flak these last few days, closing and putting people out of work, which is really hard to hear.
“And I think, who’s helped me? Nobody’s helped me.
“I’m on my own trying to keep a business afloat and suddenly I’m told, from April, you’ve got to put all the wages up and you’ve also got to pay more National Insurance contributions and we’re going to cut the rate relief on you as well.
“It’s like, well, come on, you have to give me something back, please. And there’s nothing.
“I really feel for the guys. It’s devastating, really.
“To them I’m Satan because they’ve got their rents and mortgages to worry about and they’re out of jobs so quickly. It’s heart-wrenching.
“People don’t really understand the full picture. It’s been a tough couple of days.”
A worrying trend for fine-dining restaurants
Steve and Sorrel’s story is sadly not an isolated one when it comes to restaurant closures in the UK, with another recent example being Simpsons in Birmingham.
And Steve admits he is concerned for many more colleagues across the country.
“I think this year in particular, we’re going to see a lot more closures,” he said.
“We slashed all of our costs, but the thing is, there’s not even any money to repair something when it breaks. There’s just no budget for it.
“If the wall needs painting, obviously we do that ourselves, but if we need to get an engineer out, we have to hesitate and think, well, that’s going to cost £100 or £500.
“You’re just sort of scraping the barrel at every turn. It was really tough just to operate on a normal level.
“It’s like death by 1,000 cuts.
“For the last two-and-a-half years, the industry generally has just had one thing after another of things just not working out for it.
“The economy’s really not doing very well. We would have guests that would come every month or two and now they come once a year because they can’t afford it.
“Our business has dropped. We couldn’t lower our prices any more. We tried that last year. We tried doing lower prices and we weren’t making any money on the food at all, with the cost of pigeons and the cost of lamb and the cost of these things.
“We did 80 covers the whole of last week and the week before that and the week before that.
“We should be doing 150, 200 at least.
“People haven’t got any money out there. It’s just really tough.”
He added: “It worries the hell out of me. I hear a lot of stories, speak to a lot of people.
“I don’t think customers don’t have the appetite for fine dining anymore, because I’ve been around quite a while and those stories always go up and down, that people are fed up with something or they’re not.
“I think as an industry, we do need to adjust with the times a little bit.
“But also, people just can’t afford it. There’s definitely no help for small independent businesses. I really worry for them.
“It’s absolutely appalling.
“These empty gestures of ‘there will be help from the government’, it just never comes.
“I tried to get a VAT repayment plan, because I couldn’t pay it, and they said no. They wouldn’t let me have one.
“So that ultimately really sort of stuck the knife in, if you like.
“But even then, we weren’t sustainable anyway. You just carry on for the sake of it.
“Maybe HMRC were right not to, because I’m just kicking the can down the road. We weren’t making any money.
“So really, really tough.”
When did Sorrel stop being profitable?
Steve says the tough times have been going on for quite a while, after the post-Covid boom.
“Our accounts even the year before last were pretty good,” he said.
“Last year we made nothing.
“You think it’s actually going to be okay, because we’ve all been through these ups and downs in hospitality.
“But this lull, this dip, is just going on for too long.
“No doubt it will bounce back. It always does at some point.
“But this is just too long a period of struggle after struggle, pretending everything’s fine, pretending to the guests that everything’s fine.
“But actually, the pressure on business owners and staff, management who are helping to run the places, is massive. It’s absolutely huge.
“We talk about helping working conditions for hospitality and mental health issues, particularly within the hospitality industry, and I just think, no wonder. It’s just so difficult to operate.”
Steve Drake hails Alex Payne a ‘future superstar’
Following the news, Alex Payne took to Instagram, writing: “Well, this isn’t the post that I thought I would be making, but our time at Sorrel has come to an unexpected and sudden end, due to financial difficulties of the business.
“Despite how this chapter has ended, I’m incredibly proud of everything we achieved together. It was a privilege to work alongside such a talented team, create unforgettable experiences for our guests, and gain our Michelin and AA accolades.
“Those memories and achievements are something I’ll always be grateful for.
“To everyone who supported us, dined with us, and followed the journey - thank you. It genuinely meant the world to all of us, especially those who have followed me and my team throughout the years.
“As for me, I’m now looking ahead to my next opportunity. Sometimes life takes an unexpected turn. This wasn’t the plan, but I’m looking forward to seeing where the next chapter leads.”
Speaking about Alex, Steve said: “Maybe he doesn’t see it now, but I hope in the future that Alex sees Sorrel as a stepping stone, because he’s a fantastic chef.
“He’s a great leader as well. He ran a really, really solid kitchen, very creative and genuinely just a very likeable person that people would want to work for.
“I think he’s probably seen how tough it can be, this end of the business, the small independent restaurant in a small town.
“I’m pretty sure he’ll think really carefully about his next move and to have a bit more security maybe.
“I think he needs a really strong platform to be able to show off his talents, with a team around him.
“I really hope he takes his time. Obviously, short term, it’s rubbish.
“But equally, long term, I think he’s going to be one of the superstars of the future.”
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‘Death by 1,000 cuts’ – Steve Drake suddenly closes Michelin-starred Sorrel
