BOPARAN RESTAURANT GROUP (BRP) has rescued restaurant chain Gourmet Burger Kitchen(GBK) which has been in trouble since November 2018 when it entered a Company Voluntary Arrangement.
GBK was most recently owned by South Africa-based Famous Brands and was sold out of administration by accountancy firm Deloitte.
The deal includes 35 sites and 669 jobs, but 26 restaurants and 362 jobs will be lost.
BRG, which owns casual dining brands such as Giraffe and Ed’s Easy Diner, is owned by Ranjit Boparan, who founded 2 Sisters chicken processing company.
"As with a number of dining businesses, the broader challenges facing 'bricks and mortar' operators, combined with the effect of the lockdown, resulted in a deterioration in financial performance and a material funding requirement," said Gavin Maher, Joint Administrator at Deloitte.
"We have been working closely with the management team under very difficult market conditions to try and find a funding solution and I am glad to be able to announce the rescue of this well-loved brand together with a large proportion of the sites and workforce."
He added that it is disappointing that a number of sites have had to close.
In May this year, Anglo-Italian restaurant chain Carluccio’s has been rescued after BRG agreed to buy 30 of its UK sites.
Bobby Bawa