Ed Sheeran’s upscale Notting Hill restaurant, Bertie Blossoms, grapples with mounting financial pressures amid Britain’s ongoing pub crisis, revealing net current liabilities of nearly £1.3 million as of December 2024.
Financial Struggles Exposed in Recent Accounts
Recent filings for Dive Bar Portobello, the company operating the venue, show a decline of £763,000 in net position since December 2021. The business trimmed its staff to five employees, down from six the prior year and 10 in 2020, reflecting persistent challenges.
Launch and Pandemic Impact
The singer launched Bertie Blossoms on Portobello Road in West London in September 2019. The venue faced severe setbacks during the Covid-19 pandemic, closing temporarily in 2020. Sheeran opted not to furlough his 10 staff members, covering their wages personally.
In 2021, the restaurant offered 50 percent discounts on white wine to boost takeaway orders. High-profile patrons reportedly include Peter Crouch and Abbey Clancy. The spot, believed to honor Sheeran’s wife Cherry Seaborn, features a rotating menu with items like steak, pasta, and chocolate prune brownies, often priced at £19, though limited to about nine dishes described as freshly prepared.
Customer Complaints Surface
Diners have voiced frustration on platforms like TripAdvisor. One reviewer stated: ‘What a disappointment, the food options were limited. Which wouldn’t have been a problem if the quality wasn’t so poor.’ They continued: ‘You could see through to the kitchen. Which looked more like a roadside catering van. Food tasted similar. Everything was manufactured and if it couldn’t be deep fried it was over-boiled or fried. Looked like a good clean wouldn’t hurt either. Expensive for what tasted like a second-rate microwave meal and both the server and chef looked like a good wash wouldn’t hurt them either.’
Wider UK Pub Sector Woes
Britain’s pubs continue to shutter at a rate of two per day post-pandemic. The British Beer and Pub Association notes a drop from 69,000 pubs in 1980 to 46,350 in 2021. The Campaign for Real Ale reports 1,000 closures in 2025 alone, averaging five daily, though some find new owners.
Industry groups cite rising business rates, beer duties, wages, taxes, and waste regulations as key burdens. UKHospitality estimates an additional £1 billion in national insurance costs last year following recent budget changes.
Political Responses to the Crisis
Reform UK proposes slashing VAT to 10 percent for hospitality, scrapping employer national insurance hikes, cutting beer duty by 10 percent, and phasing out business rates for pubs. Leader Nigel Farage ties funding to reinstating the two-child benefit cap, excluding British working families, projecting £3 billion in savings by 2029/30.
Reform MP Lee Anderson criticizes major parties: ‘The loss of one pub is not just the loss of livelihood for a landlord, or the loss of a local employment hub. The loss of one pub is a loss to all of us as inheritors of a tradition dating back to Roman rule. Yet the Conservatives, and now Labour, have facilitated the closure of thousands of pubs over the last decade. Any contrition they show is false. The crisis facing the Great British pub has been allowed to become acute, and our nation is poorer for it.’
The Chancellor recently unveiled a £100 million relief package for 2026, including 15 percent business rates relief for English pubs, frozen for two more years, alongside extended opening hours.
