World’s biggest Hooters in UK to shut down after ‘difficult’ year as tips withheld from staff
The Hooters bar in Liverpool was the biggest in the world when it opened three years ago, but it has faced a number of controversies in its turbulent time in the city and is now shutting for good
13:39, 28 Dec 2025
Staff at the Hooters restaurant in Liverpool(Image: Liverpool Echo)
The world’s biggest Hooters bar is to shut down after a “difficult” year which saw the iconic restaurant chain go bust in the US.
The constroversial venue in Liverpool – dubbed the biggest in the world when it opened in 2022 – will close its doors for good in the new year, its director said.
Barry Morris told the Liverpool Echo he wants the venue to “better reflect” the city, adding: “I believe now is the right time to move away from the Hooters brand and create a more inclusive concept that locals can be proud of.”
The announcement comes just days after the paper reported staff at the bar had not been paid tips since August as they had been withheld to prop up the struggling business.
The figure-hugging outfits worn by its staff have become central to the chain’s public image(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
Mr Morris told the Echo: “After a very difficult year for the business, including the loss of key signage and the disruption around Liverpool parade day, I stepped in to take over day-to-day control in an effort to stabilise the venue.
“As a Scouse family man, I want the venue to better reflect Liverpool — its people, its culture, and its love of sport and hospitality. I believe now is the right time to move away from the Hooters brand and create a more inclusive concept that locals can be proud of.”
He said eatery will be no more after Sunday, January 11, and instead a new business will open at the venue some time in 2026 and he will remain at its helm.
Its huge orange neon signs caused a row with the council(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
A franchise of the iconic US bar – famous for its chicken wings and scantily-clad waitresses – opened in Water Street in Liverpool in 2022 after refurbishing the building. But it faced a number of issues ever since.
Before bar staff even managed to pour the first round of pints, it faced opposition from then-Mayor Joanne Anderson, who said: “Hooters has an infamous sexually objectifying and misogynistic environment”.
And its biggest issue was a row over its huge orange neon signs on Water Street, which saw a lengthy battle between the brand and Liverpool city council that was only resolved this summer when they were eventually removed.
The signs were removed in June(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
And earlier this year, ex-boss Rachael Tansey appeared before court after being pulled over by police while driving in her Land Rover and refused to take a roadside breath test as she had undergone cosmetic lip surgery.
The mum-of-three was stopped because her car was seen travelling “all over the road” at 20mph in a 60mph zone, which she claimed was due to eating a chicken wrap while driving in a highly publicised court case.
And the Echo reported this week that in a message to staff, Mr Morris said: “The business has been under extreme financial pressure, and service charge money that was collected has already been used to cover essential operating costs at a time when there were no other funds available.”
The restaurant was the biggest in the world(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Mr Morris said he hopes a new concept will put all these issues to bed as he looks to transition the current Hooters venue into a “more refined sports bar and restaurant”. He said “further details” will be shared soon in what is a “new chapter on Water Street”.
It comes after Hooters of America had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US in March and said it had “entered into a restructuring support agreement RSA with near unanimous support from its key stakeholders.”
The “breastaurant” chain was founded in 1983 and is known for its waiting staff, who are mainly young women – known as “Hooters Girls” – as well as its chicken wings. The figure-hugging outfits worn by its staff have become central to the chain’s public image.
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