Veeno Bars enters administration again, five UK sites at risk of closure

Veeno’s five remaining UK sites are now in the frame after Vintage Corporation Ltd, trading as Veeno, entered administration on 8 April. The immediate risk sits with the bars in Bristol, Durham, Edinburgh, Leeds and Leicester, while Chester had already closed earlier in 2026, leaving staff, landlords and booked-in customers facing another round of uncertainty.

The appointment was confirmed in a London Gazette notice published on 13 April, naming David Kemp and Richard Hunt of Exigen Group as joint administrators. The notice lists Vintage Corporation Ltd’s registered office at Warehouse W, 3 Western Gateway, Royal Victoria Docks, London, E16 1BD, and its principal trading address at 1 Glass Wharf, Temple Way, Bristol, BS2 0EL. Veeno also has one site in Wroclaw, Poland.

This is Veeno’s second administration in seven years, a stark marker of how hard the casual dining and wine-bar market has become for smaller chains. Founded in November 2013 in Manchester by Nino Caruso and Andrea Zecchino, Veeno once looked like a brand on the rise. In 2018, it was reported to have 15 UK sites and a plan for 12 more branches, a scale that now makes the current five-site footprint look like a retreat rather than a growth story.

The shrinkage has already been visible in Manchester, where Veeno’s city-centre branch closed permanently in August 2022. The latest administration means the business has gone from expansion mode to survival mode, with each site now carrying more weight for the people who depend on it, from front-of-house teams and kitchen staff to suppliers waiting to be paid. In hospitality, that kind of financial distress rarely stays on paper for long. It turns into cancelled shifts, tighter rota planning and a landlord deciding whether a unit will sit empty or be replaced by another operator.

Veeno’s collapse also lands in a wider run of pressure across UK casual dining and bar groups, where thin margins, falling footfall and higher operating costs have already pushed several chains into administration or closure. For workers inside the business, the next decision from the administrators will determine whether any of the five UK locations can trade on, or whether another set of high-street sites goes dark.