The Restaurant Group

British hospitality company

The Restaurant Group plc

Company type| Private
Industry| Restaurant
Founded| 1987; 38 years ago (1987)
Headquarters| London, England

Key people

| Ken Hanna (Chairman)
Andy Hornby (CEO)
Kirk Davis (CFO)
Revenue|  £459.8 million (2020)[1]

Operating income

|  £(49.7) million (2020)[1]

Net income

|  £(119.9) million (2020)[1]
Owner|

* Apollo Global Management (2023–present)

Number of employees

| 14,000 (2021)[2]
Website| www.trgplc.com

The Restaurant Group plc is a British chain of restaurants and public houses. Their principal trading brands are Wagamama and Barburrito. The Group also operates Pub restaurants and a Concessions business which trades principally at UK airports.

## History

[edit]

The company was founded by Matthew Brown from Chatteris in 1987 as City Centre Restaurants plc with the objective of owning and managing the Garfunkel's Restaurant chain.[3] In the late 1980s, it bought the Mexican foodchain Chi Chi's and renamed it Chiquito.[3]

In 1995, four years after it was reported to have 151 restaurants,[4] the firm opened its first Frankie & Benny's in Leicester.[3] Then, a month before making an unsuccessful bid for Ask Central plc,[5] it changed its name to The Restaurant Group plc in January 2004.[6]

In 2006, TRG bought back the Deep Pan Pizza chain, which it had previously sold to the management.[7] In 2018, two years after announcing the closure of 33 units due to falling sales and profits,[8] the firm purchased noodle chain Wagamama for £559m, to diversify its portfolio.[9]

In May 2018, the Brunning & Price division purchased the Ribble Valley Inns, a collection of restaurant and real ale pubs in the north of England, from the Northcote Group for an undisclosed sum.[10] In August, the division purchased the 11-strong portfolio of Food & Fuel Pubs, which included two Coco Momo wine bars, for £15.4 million.[11]

On 3 June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, The Restaurant Group told employees a "large number" of its outlets would not reopen after lockdown;[12] up to 120 restaurants, mainly Frankie & Benny's, were set to close permanently,[13] with the loss of between 2,000 and 3,000 jobs.[14] On 8 June, TRG said it was in discussions with its landlords about potential restructuring options,[14] and three days later announced it had entered a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) and planned to cut 125 sites.[15]

In October 2020 the business suffered a significant shareholder revolt over the proposed pay package of its chief executive, Andy Hornby. After a year involving over 4,000 job losses and approximately 230 restaurant closures more than a third of investors opposed the package.[16]

In 2023, The Restaurant Group sold most of its portfolio except for Wagamama, Brunning & Price and Barburrito to The Big Table Group for £7.5 million.[17][18] In October, the board of the company announced that it intended to recommend to shareholders that they accept a £506 million takeover offer from US buyout group Apollo Global Management (APG).[19]

Wagamama in Market Street, Oxford

In December 2023, it was announced that Apollo had completed its purchase of the company for £701 million.[20]

## Operations

[edit]

As of December 2019, The Restaurant Group plc operated over 400 restaurants and pub restaurants throughout the UK. It also operates a multi‐brand Concessions business which trades principally in UK airports. In addition, the Wagamama business had 6 restaurants in the US and over 50 franchise restaurants operating across a number of territories.[1]

### Subsidiaries

[edit]

* Barburrito
* Brunning & Price
* Wagamama (flagship brand)

## See also

[edit]

* List of companies based in London

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d "Annual Results 2020". Restaurant Group. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
2. ^ "Our people". The Restaurant Group. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
3. ^ a b c "Catering & Hospitality News". Caterer Search. Archived from the original on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
4. ^ Whatley, Garrod (1991-08-21). "Restaurant chains' profits are eaten away". The Press and Journal. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
5. ^ "PizzaExpress trumps Restaurant Group with £225m offer for Ask". The Caterer. 13 February 2004. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
6. ^ "FE Investegate -CityCentreRestaurant Announcements - CityCentreRestaurant: Result of EGM & Name Change". investegate.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 April 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
7. ^ "TRG buys back Deep Pan Pizza". www.pizzamarketplace.com. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
8. ^ Kollewe, Julia (26 August 2016). "Frankie & Benny's owner closes 33 restaurants". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
9. ^ "Wagamama noodle chain sold to Frankie & Benny owner". The Guardian. 30 October 2018. Archived from the original on 30 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
10. ^ Witts, Sophie (23 May 2018). "Northcote Group sells four Ribble Valley Inns sites". Big Hospitality. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
11. ^ "Company Archive". Brunning & Price Ltd. August 2018. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
12. ^ Jones, Lora (2 June 2020). "Frankie & Benny's owner: Some sites won't reopen". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2 June 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
13. ^ Butler, Sarah (3 June 2020). "Frankie & Benny's owner to permanently close 120 restaurants". Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
14. ^ a b McAllister, James (8 June 2020). "TRG in talks with landlords over 'potential restructuring options' for leisure estate". Big Hospitality. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
15. ^ McAllister, James (11 June 2020). "TRG eyes 125 closures as CVA announced". Big Hospitality. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
16. ^ "Shareholders revolt over Restaurant Group's CEO pay plans". Financial Times. 8 October 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-10-11. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
17. ^ O'Boyle, Daniel (2023-09-11). "The Restaurant Group pays £7.5m to get rid of ailing Frankie & Benny's and Chiquito". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
18. ^ "The Big Table Group | Coast to Coast - The Big Table Group". www.bigtablegroup.com. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
19. ^ Makortoff, Kalyeena (2023-10-12). "The Restaurant Group to go private after accepting £506m takeover bid". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
20. ^ "Apollo Global Management completes takeover of The Restaurant Group". Verdict Food Service. Retrieved 2024-01-12.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Wagamama
* Brunning & Price
* TRG Concessions
* Barburrito