English chef Jason Atherton, whose name was behind several restaurants in the Unlisted Collection group, has pulled out from the scene here.

He co-owned the group's Esquina at Jiak Chuan Road, Pollen at the Flower Dome in Gardens By The Bay, as well as The Study and The Library, two bars in Keong Saik Road.

Unlisted Collection's owner Loh Lik Peng says that an "internal consolidation" happened two months ago.

"It didn't make sense for Jason to be here when he is also involved in our other businesses overseas," he says.

"Singapore is too small an operation to sustain."

Other restaurants under the group include 5th Quarter, Cocotte, The Market Grill and Restaurant Ember.

The chef still works with the group in its projects in Sydney, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Chef Atherton worked with acclaimed chefs such as Marco Pierre White and Ferran Adria before joining the Gordon Ramsay Group in 2001. He left in 2010.

His restaurant Pollen Street Social in London got its first Michelin star in 2011, the same year it opened.

His projects this year include the January opening of Kensington Street Social at The Old Clare Hotel in Sydney, which is part of the Unlisted Collection.

Last month, Japanase izakaya- style restaurant Sosharu opened in Clerkenwell, London, and he has plans for an Italian restaurant in Nova, a mixed-use development in London's West End.

Mr Loh says the restaurants chef Atherton was part of remain open.

"It's just that our relationship with Jason is now overseas," he says.