The Restaurant Group
This compiles our reporting on The Restaurant Group (TRG), operator of prominent UK brands including Wagamama, Frankie & Benny’s, and Brunning & Price. We cover TRG’s strategic decisions, financial performance, brand portfolio changes, executive leadership moves, site rationalisation, and growth initiatives. Our analysis offers critical insight for restaurant operators, F&B executives, and hospitality professionals tracking the direction of one of the UK’s most influential multi-brand operators in casual dining and pub restaurants.
-
Nov- 2018 -21 NovemberBusiness
TRG investors to oppose Wagamama acquisition
The Restaurant Group’s (TRG) investors are planning to vote against the company’s proposal to acquire Wagamama as they have said it “throws up too many red flags”. Columbia Threadneedle Investments, which owns 7.7% of TRG, have confirmed they are planning to oppose the proposal in a meeting on 28 November.…
Read More » -
14 NovemberAdvice
Customer at the heart: product and pricing strategies
With increasing financial pressures and a tough climate, casual dining brands strive to balance winning custom with achieving margins. Certainly not easy to achieve simultaneously. We ask how operators can both grow their margins, and entice new (and often price-sensitive) customers, all while maintaining their current customer base and staying…
Read More » -
12 NovemberBusiness
Restaurant Group plans rights issue to fund Wagamama purchase
The Restaurant Group (TRG) has announced it is a offer a discounted rights issue in order to fund its purchase of Wagamama. As many as 290 million new shares are set to be issued in a ‘13 for nine’ rights issue priced at 108.5p. Current shareholders and analysts have already…
Read More » -
Oct- 2018 -31 OctoberRestaurants
Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville’s Manchester restaurant to close
Former Manchester United footballers, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville, are to close their Manchester restaurant on 17 November. Restaurant group GG Hospitality confirmed that The Rabbit In The Moon was to close despite the restaurant undergoing a rebrand earlier this year, after head chef Michael O’Hare departed from his position…
Read More » -
30 OctoberBusiness
The Restaurant Group buys Wagamama
Frankie and Benny’s owner The Restaurant Group (TRG) has announced it has conditionally agreed to purchase Mabel Topco, operating as Wagamama for a cash payment of £357m. TRG said its offer valued Wagamama at £559m and it would convert some of its existing sites into Wagamama restaurants. It plans to…
Read More » -
15 OctoberCafes and Coffee Shops
Patisserie Valerie boss resigns from Restaurant Group board
Patisserie Valerie chief executive Paul May has announced he has resigned from his position on the Restaurant Group board “with immediate effect”. May has stepped down from the group which also owns brands such as Garfunkel’s and Frankie and Benny’s, as the bakery chain is hit with claims of fraud.…
Read More » -
5 OctoberRestaurants
Caprice Holdings to open Brasserie of Light in Selfridges
Caprice Holdings has announced it is to open a new restaurant, named Brasserie of Light in Selfridges on London’s Oxford Street. The restaurant will move into the store thanks to a £300m investment in Selfridges, Caprice Holdings described the new restaurant as “a new destination, restaurant, and bar” with a…
Read More » -
4 OctoberBusiness
The Restaurant Group puts nine sites up for sale
Frankie and Benny’s and Chiquito owner, The Restaurant Group (TRG) has put nine of its restaurants up for sale following the successful sale of 31 of its restaurants. International real estate advisor Savills has been instructed to sell its former sites in England and Scotland. The units are available on…
Read More » -
Aug- 2018 -31 AugustRestaurants
Frankie and Benny’s owner The Restaurant Group reports drop in sales
The Restaurant Group, owner of American chain Frankie and Benny’s, has reported a number of losses in its half year financial results. Its EBITDA suffered a decline of 14%, down to £38.1m from last year’s £44.3m. Its like-for-like sales fell by 3.7% for the 26-week period, while total revenue fell…
Read More » -
Jun- 2018 -21 JunePeople
Prescott and Conran falls into administration
The restaurant group founded by Habitat owner Sir Terence Conran – Prescott and Conran – has fallen into administration. The three remaining London outlets of Prescott and Conran – Parabola in Kensington, Lutyens on Fleet Street and Albion in Clerkenwell – have shuttered putting 168 jobs at risk The restaurant…
Read More »