Lewis Hamilton has suffered his latest career blow but this time it’s away from the F1 track after being forced to close down some of his vegan burger restaurants.
The Ferrari star launched ‘Neat Burgers’ – who boast ‘100 per cent plant-based meals’ – alongside film star Leonardo DiCaprio back in 2019.
However, just six years on, the celebrity duo have been forced to shut their London branches after suffering an eye-watering loss over the chain.
According to The Sun, ‘Neat Burgers’ recorded a £7.9million loss back in 2022. This was a £3.2million increase from the year before.
As a result, the company made the decision to close down some of their UK branches along with one shop in New York.
At the time, a statement read: ‘We are concentrating our efforts on our best performing restaurants — we believe that sometimes taking a step back is necessary to make a bigger leap forward’.
Lewis Hamilton has been forced to close down some of his vegan burger restaurants
The Ferrari star launched ‘Neat Burgers’ across London, New York and Milan back in 2019
Hamilton teamed up with movie star Leonardo Di Caprio to launch the business six years ago
By this year, only two branches in the UK remained. They have now confirmed they have pulled out of the UK market entirely.
They said: ‘We have no further comment at this time, other than to confirm that the business has taken the difficult decision to close its UK restaurants.’
As a result, around 150 members of staff are expected to lose their jobs.
Hamilton became vegan back in 2017 and has since pushed for ‘healthier’ food options for consumers.
Previously, he said: ‘I believe we need a healthier high street option that tastes amazing and offers something exciting to those who want to be meat-free every now and again.’
Just last month, fans were left confused after Hamilton shared a video on Instagram of himself feeding his beloved dog Roscoe a stick of celery.
Reacting to the video, after it was posted on the social media platform, users were perplexed by Hamilton’s decision to give his dog the snack.
One user wrote: ‘Virtual representation of rejection.’
A second added: ‘He didn’t like the leaves.’
Videos on their social media shared a look into one of the chain’s restaurants
‘Neat Burgers’ recorded a £7.9m loss back in 2022 – a £3.2m increase from the year before
The racing driver has long promoted the benefits of eating a plant based diet, pictured
Hamilton’s latest setback follows a disappointing seventh-place finish in Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Hamilton admitted he ‘didn’t enjoy one second’ of his experience in Jeddah, where he was left at a loss by his lack of pace compared with Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Except for a fine win in the sprint race in China, the seven-time champion has finished 10th, disqualified, seventh, fifth and seventh since joining Ferrari on a £60million-a-year deal.
His culinary catastrophe follows the failure of George’s Dining Room and Bar, a Worsley-based restaurant owned by Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs.
The business was shut at the end of January after amassing six-figure debts, with nonplussed customers arriving to find a sign attributing the closure ‘to unforeseen circumstances’.
In 2019, a joint business venture involving Giggs and former Old Trafford team-mate Gary Neville went under in similar fashion as their London restaurant Cafe Football closed its doors.
The eatery sat less than half a mile from West Ham United’s Olympic Stadium, but customers said it was too expensive for food that was ‘just like McDonalds’.
Nicole Paley, of the Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association, said: ‘We advise that vegan diets – with no animal products – are carefully checked by a vet or animal nutritionist.’
And television vet Dr Scott Miller, who has appeared as an expert on BBC’s Crufts, said a vegan diet could be ‘extremely dangerous’ for dogs, and often removing meat from them was purely due to the preference of the owner.
He said: ‘Dogs and cats have sharper teeth for catching meat. As much as it makes sense for you to be a vegan, when it comes to our pets it’s going to prove problematic.’
Hamilton put Roscoe on a meat-free diet to help cure his ailments. His other bulldog Coco died of heart problems, and the breed naturally suffers from breathing issues.
