Open Restaurant Group Buys Wreck Bistro From Gary Usher

Open Restaurant Group has acquired Wreck Bistro in Liverpool from chef Gary Usher, its second purchase from the Elite Bistros founder in two years. The deal transfers the Ropewalks restaurant to the nine-site operator run by Andrew Sheridan and Sam Morgan.

Open Restaurant Group already trades across Liverpool, Chester and Manchester. Wreck Bistro adds a second Usher-founded site to a portfolio built on buying established independent restaurants rather than opening new ones from scratch.

Wreck Bistro changes hands

Consolidation is quietly reshaping Liverpool's restaurant scene, one founder-chef sale at a time.

Usher's final service at Wreck Bistro falls on Sunday 4 October 2026. All existing staff move across with the sale; Open Restaurant Group says no jobs are lost in the transition. A changeover period follows before a new concept opens on the site.

Usher framed the sale as a continuation of trust built through the group's earlier purchase. "Following the success of the Hispi acquisition, we know Andy and the Open Restaurant Group team will give Wreck the same care," he said.

Sam Morgan, chief executive of Open Restaurant Group, called the acquisition a weighty one. "We're very conscious of the responsibility that comes with taking on a restaurant with that history," he said. The group plans to build on the site's reputation for hospitality rather than discard it.

From Wreckfish to Wreck Bistro

The Ropewalks site opened in 2017 as Wreckfish, funded by a crowdfunding campaign that helped establish Usher's reputation for backing openings directly through supporters. It traded under that name for six years.

Usher renamed the restaurant Wreck, trading as Wreck Bistro, in 2023. "Everybody thinks it's a fish restaurant," he said at the time, pointing to the confusion the original name caused among diners unfamiliar with the site's history.

The sale is the second time Open Restaurant Group has bought from Usher's Elite Bistros group, which also runs Sticky Walnut, The White Horse and Usher's Bakehouse. It previously acquired Hispi in Didsbury, Manchester, from the same stable.

The deal fits a broader pattern among UK independent restaurant groups, where larger, faster-growing operators buy single sites from founder-chefs choosing to step back, a shift visible elsewhere in British kitchens, including the recent change of hands at The Pem in London. Liverpool now waits to see what replaces Wreck Bistro once the changeover ends.