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Michelin-starred Birmingham restaurant closes
The challenges facing the hospitality industry have claimed yet another high-profile victim as Purnell’s in Birmingham shut for the final time at the weekend after operating for 17 years.
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The restaurant, under chef-patron Glynn Purnell, closed on Saturday (12 October), having opened in July 2007, and earned its Michelin Star the following year.
In an Instagram post, Purnell said: “Purnell’s has been my proudest moment, and I am heartbroken to say that after 17 years we have served our final guest. It fills my heart with pride to say that Purnell’s was a roaring success from day one. It won every accolade going, from a Michelin star just a year after opening, to the Craft Guild of Chefs New Restaurant of the Year Award, and the AA Restaurant of the Year Award.”
“Purnell’s has been a place where I have had the privilege of working with some of the greatest talent I’ve ever known, and where I have trained people who are now working in some of the best restaurants in the world, from New York to Australia,” he continued. “However, the world doesn’t stand still. Things have moved on, and times have changed. In this current climate, no-one is bulletproof.”
He then went on to thank those who had worked at the restaurant, describing the team as “like family…who have worked with creativity, passion and enthusiasm to make Purnell’s the success it has been for 17 years”, and he also expressed gratitude to the customers the restaurant received over its run.
Purnell also has The Mount pub in Henley-in-Arden as well as tapas restaurant Plates by Purnell’s, also in Birmingham.
The closure of Purnell’s follows MasterChef winner Simon Wood shutting his Manchester restaurant, and James Cochran closing his celebrated Islington restaurant 12:51, though the end of the latter was not framed as a consequence of the industry’s difficulties.
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