January 2026 is the restaurant’s last full month of trading
The 23 Group’s Andy, Tom and Gary Peters
The team behind multiple Merseyside establishments have announced the closure of one of their restaurants. The Tree House in Crosby is having its last full month of trading this month, with the venue shutting for the final time in February.
The eatery on Coronation Road belongs to the 23 Group, the family-run company also behind Bold Street and Castle Street’s So Salsa and Crosby’s SaltRock. It originally opened more than a decade ago in 2012 and was then run by the owners of Fat Italian restaurants.
However, a few years later, in 2016, it was taken over by the Peters family. Fast forward to now, and The Tree House is preparing to serve its last ever set of customers. Taking to social media, to inform its thousands of followers, the team said: “Our journey has had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.
“From taking a risk of buying The Tree House and working together as a small, knit family, to now employing over 100 staff across seven sites. The Tree House is where it all began, and we will forever be grateful. We’ve employed staff who become family and met customers who become friends.”
The Tree House in Crosby is shutting in February
As part of the closing, the team has put on a “final chapter” deal which sees customers get two courses for £20 during certain times throughout the week.
Those who have bought a voucher for the restaurant will be able to redeem it in The Tree House’s sister sites. The ECHO understands all other sites belonging to the 23 Group will continue to operate as normal.
It comes after another Merseyside venue announced “with a heavy heart” that it had closed. The Hightown Pub in Hightown, Sefton, initially shut after its owners said they were forced to close due to the worsening climate of the hospitality industry and the cost-of-living crisis.
Tree House has called Crosby its home for more than a decade now
However, the Lower Alt Road site was temporarily saved when GSG Hospitality, the team behind Duke Street Market and NORD, stepped in and put executive chef Daniel Heffy at its helm.
Daniel, alongside partners Matt Farrell and John Ennis, transformed the space into a “dynamic hub of hospitality”, under the new name The Hightown Inn. Now, as of this week, the venue has closed once again after a “combination of ongoing challenges”.
The Hightown Inn said: “It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that we have decided to step away from The Hightown Inn, and the pub will be handed over to new owners in the coming weeks.
“We are incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved at The Hightown Inn, we feel we have reinvigorated the pub for the village and created a place we truly believed in. We hope that legacy continues long into the future.
The Hightown Pub and Kitchen(Image: Bernard Platt)
“We have never been willing to compromise on quality, from well-sourced ingredients to the standards we hold ourselves to, and this is getting tougher in the current hospitality climate. This decision has been shaped by a combination of ongoing challenges, the recent budget, wider government policies and broken promises.
“All of this together has made it unsustainable to continue in the way we believe mirrors our culture at GSG. As a result, we will be focusing our efforts on other areas of the business and from the 5th January, The Hightown Inn will close and have no affiliation with GSG Hospitality from then onwards.
“Our priority throughout this process has been to ensure a smooth transition, with the pub closed for the shortest possible time, so as not to disrupt our brilliant staff or the local community while the new owners take over.”