Ed Sheeran’s bar and diner Bertie Blossoms falls victim to Britain’s pub crisis as its debt rises to nearly £1.3million after struggling during Covid

Ed Sheeran’s popular Notting Hill restaurant has become the latest victim of Britain’s pub crisis after its debt soared to nearly £1.3 million.

According to The Mirror, luxury Bertie Blooms, which the singer opened in 2019, is yet to turn a profit after struggling during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Accounts opened in December revealed That Dive Bar Portobello, which Sheeran runs the business, posted net current liabilities of £1.3 million as of December 2024.

The firm’s balance sheet also revealed that the company had fallen by £763,000 since December 2021.

The business also reduced staff numbers to five people over the same period, from six in the previous year and 10 in 2020.

The singer opened Bertie Blossoms on Portobello Road, West London, in September 2019.

The restaurant appeared to be struggling in recent years after being forced to temporarily close in 2020 due to the pandemic.

The singer refused to furlough his ten employees at the time, instead paying their salaries out of his own pocket.

In 2021, the singer offered a 50 percent discount on white wine to persuade customers to order takeaway from his restaurant.

It is said that the restaurant’s famous customers include names such as Peter Crouch and Abbey Clancy.

And in 2023, customers criticized the £19 plates, complaining that they “tasted like second-rate microwave meals”.

The dining venue, which is said to be named after Sheeran’s wife Cherry Seaborn, changes its menu frequently, but it is known that steak, pasta dishes, chocolate and prune brownies are also served on its plates.

While previous menus only included nine items in the entire list, the restaurant’s website states that the dishes are ‘freshly prepared’.

But some customers took to TripAdvisor to express their disappointment after dining there.

One customer said: ‘What a disappointment, food options were limited. This wouldn’t be a problem if the quality wasn’t so poor.’

He added: ‘You could see into the kitchen. It looked more like a roadside food truck. The food tasted similar.

‘Everything was manufactured and if it couldn’t be deep-fried it was over-boiled or fried. Looks like a good cleaning wouldn’t hurt either.

‘It was expensive for a meal that tasted like a second-rate microwave meal, and both the server and the chef looked like they’d given a good wash, it wouldn’t hurt them either.’

It comes as pubs across the UK continue to struggle in the wake of the pandemic, with two a day being forced to close.

Earlier this month, Reform UK announced plans to save pubs in England after warning thousands would be forced to close their doors.

Leader Nigel Farage has announced that his party will reduce VAT for the hospitality industry to 10 per cent if it wins the next election.

The party said the scheme would be paid for by reintroducing the two-child benefit limit for all but British working families.

The reform claimed it would cancel the employer national insurance increase for hospitality businesses that Rachel Reeves announced in her first budget.

He also promised to cut beer duty by 10 per cent and eventually scrap business rates for all pubs and change regulations to support landlords.

Pubs in the UK continue to struggle in the wake of the pandemic. Pictured is the interior of Sheeran’s restaurant

Reform MP Lee Anderson accused the two main parties of ‘facilitating’ the closure of thousands of pubs over the past decade.

‘The loss of a pub is not just the loss of the landlord’s livelihood or the loss of a local employment centre,’ he said.

‘The loss of a bar is a loss for all of us, heirs of a tradition dating back to Roman rule.

‘But the Conservatives and now Labor have facilitated the closure of thousands of pubs over the last decade. Any remorse they show is wrong.

‘The crisis facing the British pub has been allowed to become serious and our nation has become poorer for it.’

Last month the Chancellor announced a rescue package for landlords worth around £100 million next year and said opening hours would be extended.

This means pubs in England will receive a 15 per cent reduction in business rates next year, with the amount frozen for two years after that.

But that wasn’t enough to lift the pub ban on Labor MPs after Ms Reeves announced support would end during Covid.

The reform said the cost of its plans would be covered by reintroducing the two-child limit on Universal Credit for all except British families where both parents work.

He said this would save around £3bn by 2029/30 and would use this to support the hospitality sector.

The restaurant is said to be named in honor of his wife, Cherry Seaborn (pictured together at the Brit Awards after party in February 2017).

The party said it would work to remove business rates for all pubs over the next four years, prioritizing those who need help most.

While there were 69,000 pubs in 1980, this number has fallen to 46,350 in 2021, according to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA).

The Real Beer Campaign said 1,000 pubs were set to close by 2025, equating to five a day, but some were looking for new owners.

Business organizations also say business rates, tax rises, fee and tax increases and new waste regulations are increasing costs.

UKHospitality, which represents pubs, restaurants and hotels, tracked the budget last year and estimated that £1bn had been added to national insurance costs.