Liverpool's the Old Blind School closes suddenly

The Old Blind School restaurant in Liverpool has closed.

 

The pub reportedly has a sign on the door which states "closed until further notice" and has not opened for business this week.

 

The Old Blind School opened on Hardman Street in 2015 following refurbishment and was the second restaurant in the New Moon Pub Company, run by David Mooney and Paul Newman.

 

It is currently operated by Mooney's firm Carrwood Catering, which bought several sites from the New Moon Pub Company after it went into administration. Carrwood Catering now includes the Old Sessions House in Knutsford, Cheshire; the Montgomery in Eastham Village, on the Wirral; and the Old Blind School.

 

No one was available at the Old Blind School when The Caterer phoned the restaurant. The Caterer has also approached Mooney for comment.

 

Mooney and business partner Paul Newman launched the New Moon Pub Company in 2011, however Newman left in September 2016.

 

In November last year the business entered administration owing over £4m to unsecured creditors following a series of closures of sites. The following January, Mooney's second site Beef & Pudding in Manchester closed and has since been replaced by sports bar the Directors' Box.

 

Casa Matta near Northwich, the Mockingbird Taproom in Chester and the Bronx bar in Knutsford also closed around the time the company went into administration.

 

At the time of Beef & Pudding's closure, Mooney told The Caterer: "It's a very testing market at the moment. The catering industry has grown faster than I have ever known in my 30 years of working. The margins are minuscule for most operators at the minute and who knows where it's going. It's a very hard trading environment at the moment and I think there will be more casualties."

 

Mooney is also though to have taken on another pub, the Farmers Arms in Frankby on the Wirral, although it is not clear whether or not this will be operated as part of Carrwood Catering.

 

Mooney took to Twitter on Sunday 25 June to tweet an image of the pub saying that it was under new management and a refurbishment was expected in the summer:

 

@frankbyfarmers As the kids say word…. pic.twitter.com/mNAYltQP2h

 

— David Mooney - Chef (@GobbyChef)

@frankbyfarmers As the kids say word.... pic.twitter.com/mNAYltQP2h

— David Mooney (@GobbyChef) June 25, 2017

 

 

Manchester chef and restaurateur in battle to keep business afloat >>

 

New Moon Company to open second Liverpool site >>

 

Business profile: New Moon Pub Company >>

 

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