The Restaurant Group

The Restaurant Group plc is a British chain of restaurants and public houses. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE SmallCap Index.

The Restaurant Group plc
TypePublic
LSE: RTN
IndustryRestaurant
Founded1987
HeadquartersLondon, England
Key people
Debbie Hewitt (Chairman)
Andy Hornby (CEO)
Kirk Davis (CFO)
Revenue£1,073.1 million (2019)[1]
£91.1 million (2019)[1]
£(40.4) million (2019)[1]
Websitewww.trgplc.com

History

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.[2] In the late 1980s, the company bought the Mexican foodchain Chi Chi's and renamed it Chiquito.[2] Then, in 1995, it opened its first Frankie & Benny's in Leicester.[2]

In January 2004, the company changed its name to The Restaurant Group plc.[3] In February 2004, it made an unsuccessful bid for Ask Central plc,[4] and in 2006, it bought back the Deep Pan Pizza chain, which it had previously sold to the management.[5] In 2016, the company announced it was closing 33 restaurants due to falling sales and profits.[6]

In 2018, The Restaurant Group purchased noodle chain Wagamama for £559m, to diversify its portfolio.[7]

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;[8] and in August 2018, the division purchased the 11-strong portfolio of Food & Fuel Pubs, which included two Coco Momo wine bars, for £15.4 million.[9]

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;[10] up to 120 restaurants, mainly Frankie & Benny's, were set to close permanently,[11] with the loss of between 2,000 and 3,000 jobs.[12] On 8 June, The Restaurant Group said it was in discussions with its landlords about potential restructuring options,[12] and three days later announced it had entered a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) and planned to cut 125 sites.[13]

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.[14]

Operations
Frankie & Benny's at Spytty Business Park outside Newport

As of December 2019, The Restaurant Group plc operated over 650 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 5 restaurants in the US and over 50 franchise restaurants operating across a number of territories.[1]

Subsidiaries

See also

References
  1. "Annual Results 2019". Restaurant Group. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  2. "Catering & Hospitality News". Caterer Search. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  3. "FE Investegate -CityCentreRestaurant Announcements - CityCentreRestaurant: Result of EGM & Name Change". investegate.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  4. "PizzaExpress trumps Restaurant Group with £225m offer for Ask". The Caterer. 13 February 2004. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  5. "TRG buys back Deep Pan Pizza". www.pizzamarketplace.com. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  6. Kollewe, Julia. "Frankie & Benny's owner closes 33 restaurants". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  7. "Wagamama noodle chain sold to Frankie & Benny owner". The Guardian. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  8. Witts, Sophie (23 May 2018). "Northcote Group sells four Ribble Valley Inns sites". Big Hospitality. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  9. "Company Archive". Brunning & Price Ltd. August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  10. Jones, Lora (2 June 2020). "Frankie & Benny's owner: Some sites won't reopen". BBC News. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  11. Butler, Sarah (3 June 2020). "Frankie & Benny's owner to permanently close 120 restaurants". Guardian. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  12. McAllister, James (8 June 2020). "TRG in talks with landlords over 'potential restructuring options' for leisure estate". Big Hospitality. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  13. McAllister, James (11 June 2020). "TRG eyes 125 closures as CVA announced". Big Hospitality. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  14. "Shareholders revolt over Restaurant Group's CEO pay plans". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
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