Antony Worrall Thompson has been forced to lay off staff and close four of his restaurants.

Worrall Thompson tried to obtain bank funding to see his businesses through the first few months of this year, but failed and was forced to break the news to his staff on Friday. He will be dipping into his own personal savings to keep two other restaurants and a delicatessen open.

His holding company, AWT Restaurants Ltd, went into administration last Friday.

“The decision to go into administration has not been taken lightly,” he said in a statement released on Sunday.

“The company started in 1997 with Notting Grill launching in 2001 and since then we have all worked hard to build a loyal team of employees, grow the business and create solid relationships with our suppliers.”

He said: “Even though November and December sales were down on the previous year, five of the seven businesses were profitable. However, the first quarter of the year is always a hard one in the hospitality business and additional funding was required to ease our continuing cash flow issues.

“Our request for funds has not been supported, making administration a difficult decision but an unavoidable one.”