THE owner of a renowned restaurant and hotel has spoken out on the pressures of the cost of living crisis on the restaurant industry.

Rob Brown, owner of the Green Room, on East Hill, Colchester, said the restaurant has had to change its menu in order to adapt to customers' needs as well as the fluctuating prices of ingredients.

Rob said: “It is more to do with adapting, not simply removing the products.

"We can't keep up with the prices of certain goods, such as joints of beef and eggs.

"The dramatic price increases see our margins ruined if we are not careful.

“If you don’t keep your eye on the prices, it is very easy to realise you are selling a menu item at a loss, for instance, eggs and butter, which are very high in cost at the moment.

“If you haven’t priced up the costs of the menu recently, you would be surprised how easy it is to sell menu items at a loss.”

A year ago, lunchtime diners would receive an extensive A3 menu, which detailed 11 starters, 18 mains, lighter bits and sharing platters.

Around six months ago, the menu was reduced to a double-sided A4 piece of paper, with four starters and nine mains available.

Rob explains: “When we re-opened after Covid, we started focussing on certain dishes, offering three or four options of pies, now we sell one.

“Customers seem to be mostly understanding of our struggles. In general, they have had a positive response, as we have kept the best dishes available for them.”

Rob further highlighted how soaring electricity costs play a hidden threat for the future of the service industry.

He explained: “Our electricity bill is currently £1,500 per month, on a fixed rate until the end of April. Whilst looking for a new quote, the lowest price we have received for April is four times that at £6,000.

“At that price, I would be better off shutting the doors, instead of operating at a loss.”

Rob further stated he plans to inject money into the restaurant in order to boost footfall.

He said: “We are planning to change the layout and format in some way, in order to give the customer a better choice.

“We want to give customers a wider choice, by offering a smaller meal as opposed to a more expensive, sit down meal.

“Necessity drives creativity and we are planning ways to make our restaurant even better. Watch this space."

He added: "I’m concerned about the industry as a whole. Many restaurants will be unable to operate given these drastic price changes.

"On top of that, there is a chef shortage in general, across the country. Coupling this with electricity and gas costs, it is worrying me the most, that many sites will have to shut their doors.

“As much as you can switch off unnecessary lights or plugs, you cannot turn off the fryers and cookers, just hope a customer will come in and that you can turn them on then.

“As a hotel, we cannot simply ask visitors to keep their lights off and the heating in their room down.”