The Fat Badger in Richmond has closed down after two years, and its Hill Rise site is to be taken over by ambitious fresh pasta chain Noci.

The closure this week marks a step backwards for the three Gladwin brothers – Richard, Oliver and Gregory (pictured) – who launched their Local & Wild farm-to-fork restaurant group in 2012 from the family’s Nutbourne estate and vineyard in West Sussex.

The brothers said: “It has been a difficult decision but after two years’ trading, we have been unable to make the site profitable and we are just too small a business to support the losses. All our staff have been transferred into other sites and we thank them for their hard work in trying to make The Fat Badger a success.

“This, however, is not a farewell, but a transition. Gladwin Brothers restaurants continue to thrive at The Black Lamb in Wimbledon Village, The Shed in Notting Hill; Rabbit in Chelsea; and The Sussex in Soho. We also have an exciting new project in the pipeline that we are eager to unveil ­– look out for updates.”

Meanwhile Andy Bassadone – who built the Strada and Cote chains – said his company Various Eateries would open the fourth branch of Noci on the Fat Badger site in April.

He said the relative affordability of high street sites was “the only silver lining from Covid” – saving up to £400,000 on the cost of opening new branches of Noci. So far the two-year-old brand has branches in Islington, Shoreditch and Battersea Power Station.

“We’re going to build within all the residential inner and outer boroughs, with the odd central site, and then we’ll move out to all the well-known places everybody goes to when they move outside the capital. I think we can do four or five a year constantly.

“I think Noci is really well placed. It’s affordable but you are having a proper food experience, and I think that’s where the future has got to lie.”