Marco Pierre White brutally tears apart Rachel Reeves as UK restaurants go bust

Interviewing Marco Pierre White is rather like stepping onto a compliment conveyor belt – the words of praise keep coming before you’ve had time to digest the previous one. One moment he’s admiring the thought behind a question, the next telling me that I’m funny. Before long I’m called “charming” and “glamorous” – and soon after that his “darling girl”.

It’s slightly disorientating and quite possibly a clever ploy to get me on side, but it’s distinctly intoxicating – and it works. After 30 minutes in his company I can’t imagine how this charming fellow was once deemed the original “enfant terrible” of the restaurant industry. He’s simply too nice and agreeable.

And yet question the first British chef (and the youngest at 33) to win three Michelin stars on certain topics, and it’s clear his charm isn’t a dish intended to be served to everyone. Certainly not the present government nor “Rachel from Accounts” as White, along with so many of us, refers to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Nor with reference to how Reeves and her colleagues are handling the crisis in the hospitality industry.

Only the other day, a senior adviser to the Chancellor sparked backlash by saying the UK “doesn’t need any more restaurants”, implying government should focus its efforts on high-growth sectors like tech rather than hospitality and retail. “What they’re doing just isn’t working,” fumes Marco as we sit over coffee and buns at the Marksman pub in trendy east London.

“Look, it’s very tough. Restaurants are going bust every week, hotels are struggling. If you look at the pubs, they’re closing down. Employment laws are changing, minimum wage has gone up, National Insurance has gone up, utilities, food costs and so on. But look at the Labour government of old – Gordon Brown lowered the VAT to assist. If you look at what Boris did, he helped. This government doesn’t seem to help.”

He pauses and grins. “I can see why my old mate Jeremy Clarkson has banned the lot of them from his pub. He seriously has. A man of principle is Clarkson. A proper boy. Love him. Have known him for years.

“As for Rachel from Accounts, I mean, look at the character. And she’s not an actual speaker, let’s put it that way. She shouldn’t be in front of a camera.”

I sense this is the right time to bring Marco, 64, back to his brief. After retiring from kitchens in 1999, and famously handing back his three Michelin stars, he’s back with a new business venture that might help revive a flailing hospitality sector hit by rising overheads and consumers with disappearing disposable incomes.

“It’s called ‘Eat Club’. It’s an app built by restaurateurs on a mission to tackle one of hospitality’s biggest challenges – empty tables during quieter hours,” explains White.

The app uses smart, real-time pricing to help restaurants maximise off-peak dining while offering diners exclusive deals at
restaurants and bars, without the need for “awkward coupons”. “The simple fact is that people love eating out and restaurants like to be full,” says Marco.

“But even the best restaurants have periods when they are quite underutilised. A lot of restaurants survive largely off Friday and Saturday nights. But what about the rest of the week? Eat Club creates opportunities for people to go to restaurants and make it affordable. The client wins. The customer wins. Everybody wins. And that’s really what business is all about. Because if one element doesn’t win, it’s game over.”

Which is exactly what’s happening to struggling businesses up and down the land.

Recent modelling analysis from trade union UKHospitality reveals that 963 restaurants, 574 hotels and 540 pubs could close this year if the Government doesn’t stop business rates increasing in April – that amounts to 2,077 hospitality venues shutting across the year, or six every day.

When White last spoke to the Express, at the height of the pandemic in 2021, he was teaching people how to cook exceptionally made but straightforward dishes.

Speaking then, he said: My style is honest. Eating great food should not only satisfy your stomach, but also warm your heart. Mother Nature is the true artist – we’re just the cooks. Food should never be forced. If you push things in life, you always break them.”

And that’s why today he stresses that his app can be of benefit to every type of business, from haute cuisine to fast food. “Eat Club solves an age-old problem in a way that works for any venue – whether it’s a fish and chip shop or a fine dining room,” he continues. “This finally gives restaurants a way to handle those off-peak times.”

He breaks off suddenly and changes tack. “You know, I love your glasses. Very 1960s. Very Diana Rigg. I met her once at Michael Winner’s place. She was extraordinary.

“I loved her. I tell you what she had… real stage presence. She was magical yet understated. She wasn’t snobby or precious. She was down to earth.”

Diana was a child of Yorkshire – Doncaster – I tell Marco. “Like Clarkson, too!” he exclaims. “Ahh Doncaster. Donny. I used to frequent Rotters in Doncaster when I was kid. Anyway… back to the script, darling girl! Let’s bring Pan in.”

He’s referring to Pan Koutlakis, the CEO of Eat Club, an Australian of Greek heritage and the initial brains behind the concept. “I started working in hospitality when I was very young in Adelaide where I grew up,” says White’s business partner as he pulls up a seat and joins us. “As an adult, I ran bars, nightclubs and restaurants, and, in fact, started a very early version of Eat Club back in the day.”

In the early days Pan remembers stuffing time-limited eating and drinking invites to customers by hand and mailing them to
customers to drive up restaurant footfall in quieter hours. The idea took off in Australia and now, after launching in London last year, it arrives in Manchester next month.

More than 1,000 venues have signed up to date, including much-loved brands, hidden gems and several Michelin-starred establishments. “Who wouldn’t like to eat at a top restaurant at a discounted price – up to 50% off in some instances?” Marco interrupts. But won’t expensive establishments shy away from the scheme for fear it might cheapen their brand?

“Look – not every single Michelin star restaurant is full in London today,” replies Marco, a little warily. “Michelin star restaurants are going bust because they’re not full – and they want and need to be full. We can create a package that doesn’t compromise what they do.

“So many high-end brands have sales. Think of retail and fashion houses. Selfridges and Harrods have sales, Bloomingdales in New York, Armani. Look where we are now at The Marksman – it’s one of the top eateries in London today. One of the coolest restaurants. They’re part of the Eat Club family because they’re clever. They’re putting good business sense before snobbery – and there is snobbery in our industry. It’s one of the worst flaws.”

And just as I fear this chef’s bark may finally be back, he breaks into a broad smile with talk of his plans for dominance across the hospitality sector. “Wales, Scotland, Ireland… the whole of the British Isles – bang!” he exclaims. “And then, why not globally? I’m serious, darling girl! Why not the world?”

• Eat Club launches in Manchester on March 15. For further information, visit eatclub.co.uk