did not provide him with adequate returns in his personal life. So, in 1999, he retired and returned his Michelin stars. Retirement White announced his retirement from the kitchen in 1999 and cooked his final meal for a paying customer on 23 December at the Oak Room. He also returned all his Michelin Stars. After his retirement, he became a restaurateur. Together with Jimmy Lahoud, he set up White Star Line Ltd, which they operated together for several years before ending their partnership in 2007. In 2008, White opened his very first steakhouse, the "MPW Steak & Alehouse" with James Robertson in the Square Mile in London. As co-owners, since 2010 they also operated the Kings Road Steakhouse & Grill in Chelsea. James Robertson had worked for White as a maître d'hôtel, between 1999 and 2003. In May 2016 the two restaurants became the London Steakhouse Co. White had a stake in the Yew Tree Inn, a 17th-century dining pub near Highclere in Hampshire, although following an acrimonious falling out with his business partners the pub was sold. This was the setting for much of "Marco's Great British Feast", screened on ITV in the summer of 2008. In January 2009, it was reported that White was to charge £5 for a pint of real ale at the venue, making the Yew Tree "one of the most expensive places to drink British real ale in the country". White said: "Most pubs undercharge. You're not just paying for beer, you're paying for the place you drink it in and the people who serve it." In 2010, White met businessman Nick Taplin, owner of a four-star hotel in North Somerset (UK) called Cadbury House and operator of other venues in the UK. Taplin was looking to improve the in-house restaurant offering across his hotel estate and in October 2010, following discussions with White, opened a Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill at Cadbury House as a franchisee. This was closely followed by restaurants at Hoole Hall and The Cube. As more hotel owners started making enquiries about a Marco Pierre White restaurant, in 2013, White developed a master franchise with Taplin, and together launched Black And White Hospitality. The business operates a franchise model allowing property owners or investors to open one of the eight Marco Pierre White branded restaurants within their property including Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill, Mr