Butcher 'devastated' as 'dream' restaurant postponed

A butcher who was set to open his "dream" restaurant this month is "devastated" as the venue's main investor pulled out.

Jonny Farrell, who runs Butcher Farrell's Meat Emporium in Ormskirk, was planning on expanding his brand and opening Butcher Farrell's Bar and Grill in Birkdale Village this February. However the restaurant, which he has "always wanted to open", has been postponed after its top financier withdrew from proceedings.

The award-winning butcher took to social media to give followers an "insight and update into what's going on", saying: "I've got some really sad news. Unfortunately, with everything that's going on with the trade at the moment and the publicity that the hospitality trade [is getting] - with high VAT, high electricity and gas costs - our main investor's pulled out. They got uncomfortable with the risk and they've pulled out unfortunately.

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"I'm absolutely devastated and heartbroken to say the least. There are some options out there that we're in discussions with and we're working to get that fixed as soon as possible but it basically means that Butcher Farrell's Bar and Grill is delayed so the opening won't be until [past March]. I don't know how long it's going to be.

"I've been in touch with all the staff that we've hired because that's brutal and I'm really upset about that because we've had some amazing people joining us.

"It's a question of trying to regroup, figuring out finance, figuring out what we're going to do and then opening because this has been a dream of mine for a long, long, long, long time. It's something that I've been