The Truscott Arms purchased for £5m
Private equity firm Ducalian Capital has purchased the Truscott Arms gastropub in London's Maida Vale for £5m.
The pub was forced to close in August last year after the operators, Andrew and Mary-Jane Fishwick, were unable to prevent a threefold increase in rent.
Heage Holdings, the building's Gibraltar-based landlord, hiked the rent from £75,000 a year to £250,000 a year. The Fishwicks said that this, combined with an incurred backdated rent of £330,000, made their business "untenable".
The couple's second site, the Truscott Cellar in London's Haverstock Hill also closed as a result of the situation.
In a statement released at the time, they said: "It is with exceptional, profound devastation that we are closing the doors. We love this place, we love its soul and all of you who have contributed to it. We are exploring new projects and new sites and we will continue to work hard to promote this important industry and care about the issues faced, so that British public houses are protected."
It is now set to open again after a refurbishment later this year.
He has previously worked for the Intercontinental, London Park Lane; Buckingham Palace, where he was chef to HM the Queen and the Royal Household; the Capital Group, in London's Knightsbridge which comprised the Capital Hotel, Outlaws Restaurant, the Levin Hotel and the London Bakery in London, and the Levin Winery in France.
Barber lectures and gives demonstrations at Leiths School of Food and Wine, and also appeared on the BBC's adaptation of Macbeth which screened in 2005.
Threefold rent hike forces Truscott Arms closure >>
Chris Barber: My life in hospitality >>
Unilever offers a £3,000 business development course with Chris Barber >>
Videos from The Caterer archives