A restaurant which won praise from the Michelin Guide has announced it will close with the owner "heartbroken" but unsurprised after Budget tax rises. Emba, in Mustard Wharf, Leeds, was singled out by the prestigious restaurant ratings organisation for its "eye for detail" and set tasting menu.

But the restaurant told loyal customers that independent restaurants were finding it increasingly hard to survive in the current economic climate. Owner, Elizabeth Cottam, said she was "totally heartbroken", but not surprised because there was no "meaningful help" for the hospitality sector in the Budget. Ms Cottam said rising costs were piling pressure on some of the UK's "most renowned" restaurants, but those in power weren't listening.

She said: "This is no longer the right time to own independent restaurants like Emba. Under the current conditions they cannot survive and the recent budget confirmed what so many of us already knew: no meaningful help is coming for hospitality."

Chancellor Rachel Reeves most recent autumn Budget added to costs for many firms, with another significant minimum wage rise and a jump in business rates bills.

This last was set to hit pubs, restaurants and hotels particularly hard, prompting calls for help also driven by the phasing out of government support left over from the pandemic.

Industry figures showed that at the end of last year there was a jump in business closures across restaurants and casual dining.

Data from NIQ showed the hospitality sector saw 382 net closures - the equivalent of four per day - in the final three months of 2025.

Experts linked the fall to continued inflation for many major costs, as well as fragile consumer confidence and spending.

In the face of increasing public pressure, the Labour Government announced at the end of January that pubs and music venues would get 15% off their business rates bills from April.

Treasury minister Dan Tomlinson said the property tax bills in England will then be "frozen in real terms" for the next two years. But there wasn't much to cheer about for restaurants and other hospitality businesses.

Ms Cottam told her customers: "Being award-winning, popular, admired and loved no longer means profitable and as an industry if we're honest most of us have not truly been okay since Covid."

She added it was heart-breaking to think about what the UK's restaurant industry could look like by the end of the year as costs keep rising.

Ms Cottam thanked Emba's customers, praised her staff as "the very best" and vowed to keep cooking. Bookings will remain open until March 1.