16-year-old chain restaurant quietly closes four locations
While the global market for eating out is projected to grow from $1.9 trillion now to more than $3 trillion by 2030, many individual chains have been taken down by short-term pressures such as rising operating costs and a changing customer base.
Chains such as Smokey Bones, Peet’s Coffee and Joe’s Crab Shack have all closed dozens of locations in the U.S. since the start of 2026 while UK-based chains like Leon and The Real Greek also nearly halved their store locations amid financial struggles and new ownership.
Another British casual dining chain that will be recognized by anyone who has spent time in one of the country’s cities, Turtle Bay first opened in Milton Keynes in 2010 with the concept of serving popular Caribbean dishes alongside two-for-one tropical cocktail promotions and a bottomless brunch.
Turtle Bay Caribbean to close four UK restaurants as chain reaches bankruptcy agreement
The concept initially proved popular and the restaurant quickly grew to more than 50 locations across the UK and several others in Germany.
But amid what company owners describe as “significant economic headwinds,” Turtle Bay is now closing four locations in smaller UK cities as it puts forward a Company Voluntary Arrangement to creditors. The legally-binding restructuring proposal is the UK equivalent closest to a U.S. Chapter 11 filing in that a company reaches an agreement to address its debt while staying in business.
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Past reporting shows that Turtle Bay had £84.3 million in revenue in 2025 but still reported a loss of £10.1 million amid falling diner turnover and rising costs.
As part of the CVA agreement, Turtle Bay locations in Solihull, Walthamstow, York and Middlesbrough were shut permanently this week while 29 others will continue to operate as usual even as 15 of them are reported to be in lease negotiation discussions with their landlords.
Turtle Bay
“We have had to make difficult choices along the way”: Turtle Bay founder
Another location in the Welsh port city of Swansea closed 10 years after opening back in April while a total of 76 Turtle Bay staff lost their jobs as a result of the latest round of closures. Gareth Slater and Will Wright of the London-based Interpath insolvency firm are the joint administrators assigned to oversee the case.
“While we have had to make difficult decisions along the way, we believe that we now have a sustainable business at its core and can look forward with confidence,” Turtle Bay founder Ajith Jayawickrema said in a statement.
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Jayawickrema is also behind the Latin American casual dining chain Las Iguanas. The chain operating more than 40 locations across the UK was also reported as being “heavily loss-making” in the last year and narrowly avoided falling into administration after a restructuring plan was approved by a High Court judge.
Several of the closed Turtle Bay locations were initially shown to bring in strong foot traffic but saw the situation change post-pandemic and amid wider shifts in dining trends and customer interests in specific markets.
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