Red's True Barbecue closes London site

It has closed its only London restaurant after less than three years of trading citing "current market forces".

The Leeds-based smokehouse group opened the £1.4m, 150-cover site in 2015 with the intention of using it as a base to grow​​ in the capital.

Red’s said in a statement: “Our initial strategy was to always grow out a London presence with Shoreditch as an operational hub. Whilst importantly this restaurant remains profitable, current market forces have made it challenging to support growth of the hub and spoke model in the South, and it is for this reason we have decided to sadly say goodbye to Red’s Shoreditch."

Red's said it will focus on its portfolio outside the South of England going forward.