Cheshire restaurant forced to close following long-running dispute with council

A Cheshire restaurant originally opened by George Best has been forced to close its doors after more than 45 years.

The Belle Epoque in Knutsford has ceased trading following a long-running dispute with the Town Council.

The business, which was first opened by Malcolm Mooney in partnership with footballer George Best in 1973, entered a CVA in February.

It has now agreed with Knutsford Town Council to forfeit the lease.

Last week banners appeared on the restaurant on King Street criticising the council and accusing it of “destroying local businesses”.

The current owner Matthew Mooney told The Caterer magazine: “Trading on the UK high street is tough at the moment and, like many other far larger retail businesses, we entered into a CVA in February 2019, fully supported by HMRC.

“Our landlord, the council, despite not being financially affected in any way, chose to exploit a clause in our lease to take court proceedings against us and evict us from our King Street premises.

“We want to make it quite clear that our landlord was not asked to reduce the rent and that there are absolutely no rent arrears.”

The council claimed the closure marked the end of four challenging years between the council as landlord and La Belle Epoque Limited as tenant.

It claimed issues included the non-payment of rent, unauthorised alterations and frustration of essential repairs.

It added: “Notwithstanding the message, the council was extremely disappointed that La Belle Epoque put the public at risk by hanging two banners off the Gaskell Memorial Tower on Friday afternoon.

“When the banners were removed it was apparent that the wood used to weight the banners was close to falling off and down onto King Street.

“The town council anticipates letting the building on a full repairing and insuring lease, removing the obligation on the town council of being responsible for the building’s maintenance.

“Over the next few weeks we will be agreeing the heads of terms for the new leasing arrangements and appointing a commercial estate agent to market the property. We anticipate it being advertised in late July.”

The restaurant was originally opened in 1973 by Manchester United star George Best and his business partner Malcolm Mooney.

Within six months of opening Malcolm was killed in a road accident and his twin brother Keith took over.

His son Matthew Mooney took over when Keith suffered a stroke 25 years ago.

Matthew Mooney added: “The customer base is so incredibly loyal here that it was easy to lift things up a few years by getting the enthusiasm and passion back.

“We are deeply saddened and frustrated by these events and would like to thank the huge number of customers, suppliers, and staff who contributed to our iconic business for over four decades, all of which have been amazing in their support.”