Casual Dining Group (CDG), formerly Tragus Group, operated 250 restaurants in the United Kingdom. CDG operated restaurants primarily under the
Bella Italia
Bella Italia (formerly known as Bella Pasta) is a chain of over 90 restaurants offering meals inspired by Italian cuisine in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The chain is part of The Big Table Group, which also owns Café Rouge and Las Iguanas. ...
,
Café Rouge
Café Rouge is a French-styled restaurant chain, with 30 sites across the United Kingdom. Café Rouge is part of a bigger restaurant network owned by Casual Dining Group.
History
Café Rouge was founded by Roger Myers and Karen Jones, in ...
and
Las Iguanas
Las Iguanas is a casual dining restaurant chain originating from the UK, with a Latin American theme. Founded in 1991, it operated 57 outlets in the UK as of July 2019. It specialises in Latin American food from Brazil, Mexico and beyond.
Hist ...
names. It also operates sites under the
Belgo
Belgo was a chain of London restaurants specializing in simple Belgian cooking and Belgian beer. There were five Belgo restaurants: Belgo Centraal (Covent Garden), Belgo Holborn, Belgo Kings Cross, Belgo Nottingham and Belgo Bromley ; followin ...
, Huxleys, Oriel Grande Brasserie and La Salle brands. The company was backed by investors including
KKR
KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strateg ...
and Pemberton Capital Advisors.
In mid-May 2020, CDG warned its chains were at risk of going into
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
, but was later in talks with "multiple parties" about a sale of the business. On 2 July 2020, it was announced that the company had been placed into administration, with 91 outlets set to close with the loss of 1,900 jobs.
History
Tragus Group
Tragus Holdings was formed in 2002 when
Whitbread
Whitbread plc is a multinational British hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England.
The business was founded as a brewery in 1742, and had become the largest brewery in the world by the 1780s.
Its largest division ...
sold-off 153 failing restaurants from its Pelican and BrightReasons divisions, shortly after writing their value down by £147m.
At the time, the two restaurant divisions comprised the Café Rouge, Bella Pasta, Mamma Amalfi, Abbaye, Leadenhall Wine Bar and Oriel brands.
A £25m
management buy-in A management buy-in (MBI) occurs when a manager or a management team from ''outside'' the company raises the necessary finance, buys it, and becomes the company's new management. A management buy-in team often competes with other purchasers in the s ...
by Tragus Holdings was funded by £11m from venture capitalist speculators
ECI Partners
ECI Partners is a growth focused private equity group based in the UK and the US, first established by the Bank of England in 1976.
ECI typically invests up to £100m of equity (as part of an initial transaction) in businesses valued at up to ...
. Tragus Holdings was led by chief executive Finlay Scott, formerly head of the
Aroma Café
The Aroma Cafe ( S.A.) is an Argentine coffee chain and a former British coffee chain. It was founded in London, England in 1991 and started in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2000.
McDonald's purchased Aroma in 1999. It expanded the chain in the UK ...
chain and Whitecross Dental Care. The team included Gavin Williams, managing director of Bella Pasta, and Harry Morley, former finance director of Whitecross Dental Care.
In January 2005, Tragus' directors sold the company to
Legal & General
Legal & General Group plc, commonly known as Legal & General, is a British multinational financial services and asset management company headquartered in London, England. Its products and services include investment management, lifetime mortg ...
for £90m-£95m. The sale made them around £18m profit. The chairman, discredited former LSE CEO Gavin Casey, received £2m.
Legal & General installed a new management team which included appointing new
chief executive
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
Graham Turner (formerly
managing director
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of the
Unique Pub Company
Ei Group plc, formerly known as Enterprise Inns plc, is the largest pub company in the UK, with around 5,000 properties, predominantly run as leased and tenanted pubs. Ei Group plc is headquartered in Solihull, West Midlands. It was listed on th ...
).
In December 2006, Tragus was bought by
Blackstone Group
Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate b ...
for £267m. By that time, the business had grown to 163 restaurants. In September 2006 it had also announced plans for a new restaurant concept - Huxley's Bar & Kitchen – to open in the new
Heathrow Terminal 5
Heathrow Terminal 5 is an airport terminal at Heathrow Airport, the main airport serving London. Opened in 2008, the main building in the complex is the largest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom. Terminal 5 is currently used exclusi ...
in March 2008.
The group expanded rapidly in 2007 with the purchase of Ma Potters restaurant company in February for £14.15m, and the
Strada
Strada is a chain based in the United Kingdom of branded restaurants specialising in Italian cuisine with two Strada sites and six Coppa Clubs, all in Southern England.
History
The concept was spawned by Luke Johnson in 2000 and, over five ...
chain - which included five
Belgo
Belgo was a chain of London restaurants specializing in simple Belgian cooking and Belgian beer. There were five Belgo restaurants: Belgo Centraal (Covent Garden), Belgo Holborn, Belgo Kings Cross, Belgo Nottingham and Belgo Bromley ; followin ...
and Bierodrome restaurants - in May for £140m. In July, Tragus signed a deal with
Center Parcs Center Parcs may refer to:
* Center Parcs UK and Ireland
Center Parcs UK and Ireland (formerly Center Parcs UK) is a short-break holiday company that operates six holiday villages in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, with each cover ...
to operate several Bella Italia and Café Rouge restaurants in the leisure village operator's UK sites.
In April 2012 it was announced that Graham Turner would step down as Tragus chief executive. John Derkach, formerly managing director of the
Costa Coffee
Costa Coffee is a British coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Dunstable, England.
Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. ...
chain took up the position in August 2012.
In early 2014, Blackstone's stake in Tragus was acquired by US investor
Apollo Global Management
Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American global private-equity firm. It provides investment management and invests in credit, private equity, and real assets. As of March 31, 2022, the company had $512 billion of assets under management, ...
,
and, in June 2014, Apollo sought to shed or restructure some of Tragus Group's rent obligations at Cafe Rouge and Bella Italia, and to sell its Strada chain.
In September 2014, Tragus sold Strada to Sun Capital Partners.
Casual Dining Group
![Bella Italia, Briggate, Leeds (30th March 2013)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Bella_Italia%2C_Briggate%2C_Leeds_%2830th_March_2013%29.JPG)
In March 2015, Tragus Holdings rebranded as Casual Dining Group (CDG).
In July 2015, CDG acquired
Las Iguanas
Las Iguanas is a casual dining restaurant chain originating from the UK, with a Latin American theme. Founded in 1991, it operated 57 outlets in the UK as of July 2019. It specialises in Latin American food from Brazil, Mexico and beyond.
Hist ...
and later went on to purchase La Tasca.
CDG also opened concessions including Bella Italia, Café Rouge and Las Iguanas restaurants at Centre Parcs villages, and in UK airports, including
Gatwick
Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after Hea ...
,
Heathrow
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...
,
Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
and
Inverness
Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...
.
However, efforts to close loss-making outlets and stem group losses continued through to 2018. Also in 2018, Apollo sold its stake in the group to
KKR
KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strateg ...
and Pemberton Capital Advisors (the two had provided loan finance since 2015).
Some La Tasca restaurants were converted to other brands, and the remaining four La Tasca restaurants were sold in February 2020.
On 18 May 2020, during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, CDG announced that it was working with advisors on next steps for the business as a prudent measure to protect the company whilst planning for the future. Media reports suggested the group was preparing to place one of its three core brands into
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
as part of a financial restructuring of the business.
On 29 May, CDG was reportedly in talks with "multiple parties", including other restaurant groups and private equity firms, over a sale of the business, potentially saving 6,000 jobs.
On 2 July 2020, it was announced that the company had been placed into administration, with 91 outlets set to close, with the loss of 1,900 jobs, leaving the group with 159 operational restaurants.
They appointed
AlixPartners
AlixPartners is a financial advisory and global consulting firm best known for its work in the turnaround space.Merx, Katie. "Thinking Big Thoughts." ''Crain's Detroit Business'' 19.36 (2003): 18. ''Regional Business News.'' Web. 29 May 2013. J ...
to deal with the administration and said that the 91 outlets would be permanently shut as no buyers were offering to acquire them.
The Big Table
On 3 August 2020, it was announced that Casual Dining Group, including the Las Iguanas, Bella Italia and Café Rouge restaurants, had been acquired out of administration by private equity firm Epiris and rebranded as The Big Table, led by the existing management team under CEO James Spragg.
Brands
CDG operates restaurants under the
Bella Italia
Bella Italia (formerly known as Bella Pasta) is a chain of over 90 restaurants offering meals inspired by Italian cuisine in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The chain is part of The Big Table Group, which also owns Café Rouge and Las Iguanas. ...
(100+ restaurants in the UK),
Café Rouge
Café Rouge is a French-styled restaurant chain, with 30 sites across the United Kingdom. Café Rouge is part of a bigger restaurant network owned by Casual Dining Group.
History
Café Rouge was founded by Roger Myers and Karen Jones, in ...
(60+) and
Las Iguanas
Las Iguanas is a casual dining restaurant chain originating from the UK, with a Latin American theme. Founded in 1991, it operated 57 outlets in the UK as of July 2019. It specialises in Latin American food from Brazil, Mexico and beyond.
Hist ...
names. It also operated sites under the Belgo, Huxleys (1, airport), Oriel Grande Brasserie (3, airports), DUBL (1, airport) and La Salle brands.
Social responsibility
CDG claimed to emphasise
corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a form of international private business self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropic, activist, or charitable nature by engaging in or supporting volunteering or ethicall ...
practices. It reduced its energy consumption by 17% from 2012 to 2016, and had a partnership with
The Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth y Tywysog) is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds who are u ...
charity.
Some CDG brands ranked highly for seafood sustainability (within their class). All whole eggs sourced by the company for its kitchens were
free-range
Free range denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals, for at least part of the day, can roam freely outdoors, rather than being confined in an enclosure for 24 hours each day.
On many farms, the outdoors ranging area is fenced, ...
together with eggs used as ingredients for sauces and pasta. In 2016, in partnership with
Compassion in World Farming
Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) is a campaigning and lobbying animal welfare organisation. It campaigns against the live export of animals, certain methods of livestock slaughter, and all systems of factory farming. It has received celebr ...
, CDG said it aimed to use solely free-range eggs as ingredients by 2025. In 2019, CDG signed up to the European Chicken Commitment to improve chicken welfare.
CDG had a partnership with UK charity
FareShare
FareShare is a charity network aimed at relieving food poverty and reducing food waste in the UK, which has been running since 1994. It does this by obtaining good quality surplus food from the food industry that would otherwise have gone to wast ...
to redistribute food that would go to waste to people in need instead.
Controversy
In 2009 Tragus was the subject of newspaper reports highlighting the practice of several UK restaurant chains using customer tips to meet
minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
laws for waiters/waitresses. The company's business model was said to depend on paying servers as little as £2.50 an hour, with the rest coming as tips. The company reportedly instructed restaurant managers to pressure servers to avoid encouraging customers to give tips in cash, which would not count as part of wages, and was threatening to sack employees who failed to produce a sufficient volume of card-based gratuities. They were discovered (via "mystery diners") informing customers of the company's policy.
[Jamie Elliott]
"Cafe waiters fear the axe over cash tips"
''Guardian'', 28 June 2009 When the practice became unlawful on 1 October 2009, Tragus reviewed and updated its policies to ensure that all tips, after a 10% deduction for administrative and other costs paid by credit or debit card, were distributed through the payroll system to restaurant staff via a
Tronc
Tribune Publishing Company (briefly Tronc, Inc.) is an American newspaper print and online media publishing company. The company, which was acquired by Alden Global Capital in May 2021, has a portfolio that includes the ''Chicago Tribune'', the ...
system.
In 2020, Casual Dining Group policy was that all customer cash tips and service charges were kept by restaurant employees in full.
Notes and references
{{KKR
Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts companies
Privately held companies of the United Kingdom
Restaurant groups in the United Kingdom
2014 establishments in England