‘We need help now and fast’: Derbyshire restaurant owner’s plea to Rachel Reeves after closure announcement
Scott Farr is calling for urgent government action
A Derbyshire restaurant owner has announced closure of his beloved business, citing April 2025 wage increases and ‘high energy bills’.
Scott Farr, 56, from Derbyshire is chef and owner of the School House Restaurant in South Normanton.
Mr Farr opened the restaurant in 2023 serving modern British cuisine from the former school in Alfreton.
It is number one restaurant in South Normanton on Tripadvisor, with diners appreciating ‘excellent food, atmosphere’ and ‘delicious Sunday roasts’.
Following several months of difficult trading, Mr Farr came to the decision to close this beloved restaurant.
What is National Minimum Wage April 2025?
The National Minimum Wage (NMW) has increased today (April 1, 2025).
People over the age of 21 will get paid £12.21 per hour, 18-20 year-olds will get paid £10 per hour, and those under the age 18 £7.55 per hour.
You can find more information about the NMW here.
Mr Farr took to social media to share the sad update about his restaurant, posting a video on March 10, 2025.
Speaking to DerbyWorld, Mr Farr revealed he had been thinking about closing the restaurant for some time.
He said: “I knew back at Christmas that things weren’t well.
“Now that I’ve made the decision [to close] and I’ve talked to all the staff, suppliers and customers, obviously I’m upset.
“I am devastated but also a bit relieved, now that the decision has been made.
“You know when it gets to a point where you just can’t carry on.”
In addition to the restaurant, Mr Farr has two other jobs to stay afloat, saying it was ‘tough’ juggling three jobs.
He said: “The extra jobs I was doing was just to make some extra money, all going back to the restaurant.”
Outpouring of support on social media
Mr Farr has been flooded with an outpouring of support voicing their sadness about the restaurant closure.
Mr Farr said: “Most of the replies have been supportive, a lot of people commenting are staff and customers who have been really understanding.
“People are obviously upset that a small village like South Normanton is losing such an important restaurant, but they totally get the situation I am in.
“It’s obviously not something I wanted to do.
“I always thought that [the restaurant] would see me through to retirement.
“I was expecting to have it for 10 years then sell it on as a successful business.”
Mr Farr said a culmination of factors led to his decision to shutter the School House Restaurant.
He said: “The April wage rise was in the back of my mind ever since Christmas - we had a really successful Christmas.
“When I knew that [April wage] increases were coming and also the fact that all supplier bills, energy costs, meat and vegetables, kept going up - the April wage rises was the final thing.
“All the increases, I just knew I couldn’t really afford it anymore, even this month, it is unsustainable.”
A message to Rachel Reeves
Admitting he ‘wasn’t a big political person’, Mr Farr nonetheless had a message for Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves.
He said: “The government needs to act quickly and help us.
“There’s a big storm coming, not just for the catering industry, but the service industry in general.
“Talking about it is not good enough.
“We need action and we need it now, it was needed last week, last year.
“I just think a lot of the independents, all that’s going to be left on our high streets are the big boys, the Wetherspoons, Burger Kings, McDonald’s.
“There’s nothing wrong with these, they are fine, I go to these places myself.
“The smaller independents will be gone and unfortunately there’s some good skill bases that will disappear too.
“Some of the staff I’m losing are telling me they don’t want to do it anymore, they don’t want to work in a restaurant where unfortunately it’s just reheating pre-produced items. And they’re really talented chefs and front of house staff.
“Small industries are being killed.
“I’d tell Rachel and the government to start taking money from the big people at the top, the energy companies that keep putting things up and still declaring massive profits.”
The wage increase is considered to be a move by the UK Government to reflect the cost of living under Labour’s Make Work Pay plan.
Reflecting on the wage increase, Mr Farr said: “They’re putting wages up, I want to pay all my staff lots more than the minimum wage.
“But there’s no room for me to do that with, all my bills keep going up, how am I supposed to pay for it?
“How am I supposed to pay my VAT bill? Everything just keeps going up.
“We’re expected to add 20% onto everything because of VAT, if we did that we literally would have closed two years ago.”
Mr Farr has some sobering words about a potential dearth of skilled workers that he feels the nation could be facing if workers were to abandon the hospitality industry.
He said: “I can guarantee in 10 years’ time, the government will say ‘Oh we lost all these skills in the hospitality industry.
“Where have they gone? It’s because everybody will have left.
“I’m not the only one facing this difficult situation, other friends in the industry say it’s looking dicey for them as well.”
The School House Restaurant’s last day of service is Friday, 11 April, 2025.
Voicing gratitude for the high quality of staff he has worked work, Mr Farr continues to champion them and hopes they find suitable employment elsewhere after the closure of School House Restaurant.
Mr Farr said: "I have all these brilliant staff, if people are looking to hire, please do contact me.”
Mr Farr is also currently exploring options including freelance event catering.
Location: The School House Restaurant, 43 Church Street, South Normanton, Alfreton, Derbyshire DE55 2BT
To make an enquiry about catering with Mr Farr, to make a restaurant reservation, or if you require more information about The School House Restaurant click here: theschoolhouserestaurant.co.uk