London vegan restaurant to close next month due to cost pressures

London vegan restaurant Unity Diner has confirmed it will be closing next month after six years of trading due to “soaring costs”.

 

Unity Diner was launched in September 2018 by a group of friends, including vegan educator and author of How to Argue With a Meat Eater (And Win Every Time) Ed Winters, also known as Earthling Ed.

 

It first operated in London’s Hoxton before moving to London’s Spitalfields in 2019 to trade in a former rib restaurant.

 

In an Instagram post, Unity Diner revealed it will close on 1 February, immediately after the end of  ’Veganuary’ 2025.

 

It said restaurant closures were running at their highest level in more than a decade, quoting figures from Price Bailey, which stated a total of 1,409 UK restaurant businesses entered insolvency in 2023/24.

 

Unity Diner said: “Sadly, we’ve not been spared from the economic situation affecting the hospitality sector here in the UK, and with soaring costs since Covid and our landlords now wanting a rent increase, the time has sadly come for us to call it a day. However, although we share this news with heavy hearts, we are immensely proud of everything we’ve achieved over the last six 6 years.

 

“We have been incredibly well-supported by the vegan community since the day we opened our doors, so thank you so, so much to everyone who has dined with us. A huge thank you as well to all of our lovely team members, both past and present, who have provided the most wonderful sense of community here.”

 

The restaurant served the likes of tofish and chips and seared oyster mushrooms and its profits also went towards the Nottingham-based Surge Sanctuary.

 

Sister restaurant No Catch continues to operate on Brighton Beach.

 

Image: Unity Diner Facebook