Manchester seafood and champagne restaurant has gone up for sale
Manchester city centre seafood restaurant, Randall & Aubin, has gone up for sale, just over a year after opening on Bridge Street.
The restaurant - which has reported a turnover of £1.44m - has clocked up accumulated losses of £669k, according to documents seen by Confidential.
It is understood that bosses have called in Nottingham-based insolvency practice, CFS Restructuring, as they seek to offload the handsomely decorated site, which commands an annual rent of £80,000.
The Manchester branch is the second restaurant and first franchise by Randall & Aubin - which first opened in an old Edwardian butcher’s shop in Soho in 1996, and is co-owned by occasional TV chef Ed Baines.
Upon its launch, franchisee James Storey told Confidential: “Randall & Aubin is two different animals, one in the lunchtime and then one in the evening when it becomes bouncy, loud and very hip – very Soho.
“We’re offering top quality seafood and champagne but to a driving beat of eclectic indie music. It creates a very interesting, unusual blend - something I don’t believe Manchester has seen the likes of before.”
Some dance nonsense was curdling my Queenie scallops...
That 'driving beat' became a point of contention in the months following the opening, with Confidential's editor-at-large, Jonathan Schofield, writing in his August 2017 review:
'There are a couple of things I’d change at Randall & Aubin. Firstly... COULD THE MANAGEMENT TURN THE BLOODY MUSIC DOWN A BIT. I WAS SAT IN A CORNER AND SOME DANCE NONSENSE WAS CURDLING MY QUEENIE SCALLOPS. ARE THE MANAGEMENT TRYING TO CATCH UP ON LOST YOUTH OR HAVE THEY A HEARING PROBLEM?'
Should Randall & Aubin cease to be, it will be the latest in a long line of seafood-speciality restaurants which have tried and flopped in the city (remember Livebait? Sole? How about fish!?).
This would be a shame, of course, as despite the bone-rattling beats, Confidential has (mostly) enjoyed its visits to Randall & Aubin over the last year. Their open-fronted seafood counter is a thing of beauty, and those oysters - English, French, Irish, native, skinny, tangy, plump and creamy - were some of the best in the city.
Confidential has contacted the restaurant for comment and is currently awaiting a response.
