A bar and restaurant chain has spoken out about the fate of its two Birmingham venues after a branch in Coventry closed suddenly this week. Staff at The Botanist on Broadgate in the city told our sister publication CoventryLive that they were ‘unaware’ their place of work was closing.
Shortly after closure, The Botanist was listed on Rightmove for an annual lease fee of £150,000. Its last day in business was Monday, January 6.
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The Botanist has confirmed that it has closed three of its ‘non-profitable’ venues, including in Coventry, but that the two Birmingham bars – on Temple Street and at Gas Street Basin – are unaffected by the decision. Other venues now closed include Sheffield and North Light in Chester.
The Botanist is a chain owned by the New World Trading Company (NWTC). It told BirminghamLive that the closures have come as a result of a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) launched in October 2024 which was approved by more than 95% of responding creditors.
In a statement, it said: “As part of the successful CVA process, the business has announced a further three non-profitable sites will close during January. The business has undergone changes to its estate across the last 18 months including successfully rebranding The Club House, The Smugglers Cove, and The Canal House to The Botanist.
“NWTC has opened new locations under the Botanist brand in Edinburgh, Sunderland and Barnsley and will continue to expand in 2025 with a new Botanist opening in Bournemouth in May 2025.”
The Botanist took over The Canal House on Gas Street Basin in March 2024. The now closed Coventry bar, which is based in Cathedral Lanes, has been listed on Rightmove and can be leased for a yearly fee of £150,000.