The TV chef warned unprecedented inflation had hit every single business cost. He admitted the Hand and Flowers in Marlow was only just eking out a tiny profit
Kerridge at his two-Michelin star Hand & Flowers pub in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. Pictured: Kerridge with a plate of his 'Real Baked Beans' inside the pub READ MORE: The top chef charging £110.80 for a fish and chip supper for two! JAN MOIR puts Tom Kerridge's posh take on the British classic to the test
'It is the huge amount of rising costs that are coming in behind the scenes even now, and there is no singular point where you can manoeuvre. Asked if he'd squeezed his profits as inflation rocketed, he said: 'Exactly. I think most operators, every operator, will be going 'I think if we can make the next two years and we just break even and survive, we're in a good space'.'Kerridge said his gloomy outlook was based on him being involved with all price levels, where they are all feeling the pinch.
Advertisement 'We've no debt but the energy levels it takes to make that work is so huge. There's not enough future business I see coming through. 'Eating out isn't cheap, even if you're going to a high street pizza place - a family of four will still spend £100 on a Tuesday night and that's a lot of money.
He said: 'It's been a really difficult period. Post-pandemic it's been incredibly hard and I think moving on from that there's been a cost of living crisis and global effects of Russia and Ukraine, and how that effects not just energy prices and food.Tom Kerridge said all of his restaurant outlets were being squeezed to the limit
'So unless you've got years of understanding that particular type of business it's very, very difficult to make them work.'Tom's Saffron & Samphire Fish Pie dish serves four and works out at £15 per head