TV chef Simon Rimmer has spilled the beans on his near-miss with bankruptcy when his little girl was just a tot, confessing it was a “big, big, big mistake” to snap up a third eatery. The Sunday Brunch celeb shared how this risky move almost cost his clan their businesses and their homes.
Chatting on the Sliding Doors podcast, Rimmer called the ordeal “the most terrifying and life-affirming moment in my entire life”. He dished out the details: “The bank gave us an ultimatum – we basically had a sell-by date. If the restaurant didn’t sell it would foreclose and we would lose Greens as well, which also had a second charge on our homes.”
“It meant that we were theoretically on the brink of losing our businesses and our homes. I had a one year old daughter,” according to the Express.
He painted the picture of the crisis as “hideous, absolutely hideous.”
(Image: Channel 4)
He went on: “We completed on the sale two days before our end date for the bank. I remember going home and Ali was in the front room holding Flo.”, reports the Liverpool Echo.
“I remember bursting into tears and said ‘I promise you that will never ever happen again’ and it was the most terrifying and life-affirming moment in my entire life.”
Simon first launched his dining spot, Greens, back in 1990, followed by Felix in 1994. The next year, he jumped at the chance to buy a place in Fallowfield, Manchester.
The chef opened up about the struggles he faced as the area where he established a third restaurant started to gentrify, admitting it was a “big, big, big mistake”.
(Image: Channel 4)
He lamented: “We spent too much money on the fit out, and we were wrong about the location. We had a honeymoon period of the first couple of months, busy, great. What we were doing was decent.”
“But Fallowfield didn’t really ever take off, so we were quickly haemorrhaging money. The other two businesses were supporting the third one, then Felix had a little bit of a downturn because we were putting so much focus on the business that wasn’t succeeding.”
“We ran out of overdraft facility, we had big bank loans. My daughter Flo was one, my wife Ali had gone back to work, really hated going back to work as she wanted to be with Flo. We decided ‘why don’t you take time off and be a full-time mum’ so I can work every hour God sends trying to coordinate childcare.”
Catch Simon on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch this morning (September 22) where he’ll be hosting alongside Tim Lovejoy. The line-up?
It’s a good’un!
We’re talking comedians Ben Elton and Rosie Jones, actor Alexandra Armstrong and the stunning model Vogue Williams.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
