A sad day for oenophiles: Bright, P. Franco and Noble Fine Liquor close up shop

In a sudden announcement that few, if any, saw coming, the team behind popular wine lovers' hangouts Bright, P.Franco and Noble Fine Liquor has announced they will be permanently closing down their venues, effective immediately. See below for their original announcement.

“An announcement: Our hearts are broken, and we are devastated to be making this post. In short—our time in the sun has come to an abrupt and sudden end, we have closed the doors at Noble Fine Liquor, P.Franco and Bright for the final time and they will not be re-opening.

There are many complex ins-and-outs that have resulted in the position that we're in, we don't feel this is the forum or time to go through those things in detail. Our focus at this stage is to try to do right by our staff and suppliers whilst we try to navigate our way down a path we never thought we'd have to walk.

The list of people that we owe incredible amounts of gratitude to is long. First and foremost, our past and present staff are a truly generous and talented group of people. In every iteration of every venue we have helmed, they've given their all and we would never have achieved what we have without them. They will all go on to do great things in the future, and we will be the first to cheer them on as they do so.

Secondly, the support we've been shown from the food and wine community of London, the greater UK and far beyond is something we could never have predicted and still can't quite believe was gifted to us. We thank you all for the assistance and encouragement you have given us over the past 10 years across our different venues.

Finally, to our guests and customers, we extend our thanks and love. London is a big city, with many thousands of restaurants and shops—every visit you made to us was appreciated and never taken for granted. We are incredibly thankful to you all. We'll cherish every memory that we've shared with you.”

If you're drinking wine today, do raise a glass in farewell – they deserve it.