Celebrity chef Stephen Terry has been forced to close his restaurant, The Hardwick, after 18 years of trading. The chef was reported earlier this year to have been a victim of fraud after a couple he employed fleeced his restaurant of £150,000.
An Instagram post from The Hardwick’s account on 1 October read: ‘The final ‘Family’ last breakfast supper. Thank you to all our staff and customers from the last 18yrs. It’s been emotional. Onwards & upwards. Kirk out.’
Stephen Terry and his team enjoying the ‘final ‘Family’ last breakfast supper’ at The Hardwick.
The news comes after office administrator Nicola Nightingale, who was working for Terry, was siphoning off thousands of pounds to her husband and chef at The Hardwick, Simon Nightingale, via a flurry of fraudulent activity. This included paying £46,000 into her husband’s account, amongst other illegal schemes, from fake invoices to falsely inflating her pay.
Terry first became suspicious of the activity when he noticed two loans of £40,000 had been taken out of his account that he didn’t approve. A total of 55 fraudulent transactions were carried out between May 2018 and February 2020.
The couple were both given suspended two-year prison sentences, to which Terry expressed his disdain: ‘To be here today and to get that news that they would both be given suspended sentences, it’s an absolute joke.’
Terry is a former Michelin-starred chef who trained under the likes of Marco Pierre White and has appeared on multiple series of BBC’s Great British Menu. He bought The Hardwick with his wife Joanne in 2005, where it served modern British food in a relaxed, rustic setting. It was regarded as one of the best restaurants in Wales, and has won multiple awards over the years include a Bib Gourmand from the Michelin Guide, and featuring in Estrella Damm 50 Best Gastropubs list in 2020.
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