Dinosaur-themed Kettering and Rushden Lakes restaurants shut after operator 'ceases trading'

A dinosaur-themed restaurant group has closed its Kettering and Rushden Lakes venues after it ‘ceased trading’.

Staff at Jurassic Grill had the worst possible start to 2024 after being told of the shock closures on New Year’s Day.

Jurassic Alive Ltd, which operates the chain, went up for sale in October with a £1.3m price tag. But just months later Jurassic Grill’s Northamptonshire restaurants – as well as one in Hampshire – have shut.

In a message to staff, seen by the Northants Telegraph, company director and founder Jozef Mordawska said: “It is with deep regret that we have to announce that as of today, 01/01/2024, Jurassic Alive Ltd has ceased trading.

"You will be contacted in due course by an insolvency practitioner with more information on how to claim any wages owed. To clarify the branches closing will be Whiteley, Kettering and Rushden Lakes, effective immediately.

"We thank you for all of your dedication and commitment to Jurassic Grill and wish you all the best in the future.”

Jurassic Grill launched in Kettering in 2019, opening its first restaurant in Market Place. In 2021 they opened at Rushden Lakes before opening a third branch in Hampshire the following year. There was no answer at all three branches when our reporters called today and a padlock was on the door to the Kettering restaurant. Google lists them all as ‘permanently closed’ and Jurassic Grill’s website also says they are closed with no bookings available this year.

A fourth Jurassic Grill restaurant, at Loch Lomond in Scotland, remains open today and is taking bookings online. It’s understood it is separately owned to the English restaurants.

The number of jobs which have been lost has not been confirmed. A media release issued when Jurassic Alive Ltd went on the market said they employed 67 staff plus a further nine managers. It also said that, in its most recent financial year, ‘Jurassic Alive Ltd achieved a gross profit of £1.05m’.

One worker who has lost their job, who didn’t want to be named, told the Northants Telegraph they have not been paid some of their wages for December.

They said: “I'm angry because this is not how my start of the year was supposed to be. Each of us has bills to pay...I am entering the new year with a problem because I have not received a salary to be able to pay them.”

The worker added that staff had not been expecting the closure announcement.

They said: "It's terrible because I have two children, I have to pay bills and times are very difficult and everything is very expensive. I am very worried.”

James Ellard had a table booked for today at the Rushden Lakes restaurant to celebrate his son’s birthday. Yesterday he received an email telling him that the restaurant had ceased trading.

He said: "It was just a shock and I'm obviously disappointed for my son as he was looking forward to it today as a birthday treat.

"We have been a few times, the food was not great but they made him really happy when we went there last year for his fifth birthday so we were planning on going again.”

Mr Mordawska has been contacted for comment.