Talking to owners of Hawksmoor and Foxlow about sale

Sam Harrison, has announced that his restaurant in Chiswick is to close at the end of this month after ten years in the area.

The popular local restaurateur, who also has a venture in Balham, is preparing to sell up and move to Oxfordshire.

He said, 'It is with a heavy heart I would like to announce that I am in talks with Will Beckett and Huw Gott, the joint owners of Hawksmoor and Foxlow, about the potential sale of my restaurants, Sam's Brasserie and Harrison's - subject to a full consultation with my staff. If this goes ahead, we will close our doors for the final time on Sunday 30th August 2015.'

Hawksmoor is a steak restaurant chain that first opened in Spitalfields and has six branches in London and one in Manchester. The first Foxlow restaurant opened in Clerkenwell and they have recently opened a second branch in Stoke Newington.

If the deal goes through as expected, the site in Chiswick will become a Foxlows as well as Sam's other location in Balham and will open after a refurbishment probably in October.

Sam said, 'After many happy and successful years in Chiswick and Balham, I have decided it is time to pass on the baton to an exciting, young and vibrant company who think the same way as I always have about restaurants, customers and staff. I can’t tell you how much I’ve loved the last 10 years and am so immensely proud of everything we have achieved.'

He has known the new potential owners for 10 years and promises to be there for the opening of their new restaurant in Chiswick.

In an interview with ChiswickW4.com today Sam said that he had moved to Oxfordshire and planned to explore other opportunities in the hospitality industry. He said the staff would be re-employed by Foxlows in Chiswick and Balham so customers would still see the same familiar faces.

"I've had a great relationship with Chiswick and I want to go out on a high, not just close suddenly and vanish. This is the most organic transition I can come up with. I'm proud of our record in Chiswick- I've seen people come here for their engagements, weddings and then come back to eat with their children, it's been brilliant.

"The timing feels right on a personal level and I'm lucky to be handing over to people who I feel have a shared ethos and care so much about what they do."

He said the part pedestrianisation of Barley Mow Passage, which he had fought for, would be handed over to the new owners and would probably be up and running from next year.

August 3, 2015