The Bay Restaurant Group is a hospitality company in the United Kingdom, specialising in restaurant and pub chains.

History

The company originates from three former companies: Yates's, SFI Group and the Laurel Pub Company.

Laurel Pub Company

The group has its origins in the Laurel Pub Company, which was owned by Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz, two Iranian businessmen. It originally owned the Hogshead pub chain. In May 2004, it sold 432 neighbourhood pubs for £654m to

Greene King Greene King is a large pub retailer and brewer. It is based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The company owns pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by CK Assets in October 2019. H ...

. Robert Tchenguiz's R20 bought the company for £151m in November 2004. In June 2005, it bought the Slug and Lettuce, and Bar Med for £80m when the Surrey-based SFI Group

went into administration As a legal concept, administration is a procedure under the insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions, similar to bankruptcy in the United States. It functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent entities and allows them to carry on ...

. It also bought

Yates's Yates is a British pub chain. It was founded as Yates's Wine Lodge in Oldham, Lancashire by Peter and Simon Yates in 1884. History Yates is Britain's oldest pub chain. Its motto was ''moderation is true temperance''. The founders, brother ...

for £202m, with many becoming Slug and Lettuce outlets. In February 2006, it sold the Forno Vivo and Santa Fe chains. In April 2007, it bought the La Tasca chain for £123m, but in 2011, La Tasca demerged into a standalone business under La Tasca Holdings Ltd.

Financial difficulties

On 27 March 2008, the Laurel Pub Company went into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

; this was thought to be due to high rents. R20, Robert Tchenguiz's company, with its 378 pubs, bought the company back via

pre-packaged insolvency Pre-packaged insolvency (a "pre-pack") is a kind of bankruptcy procedure, where a restructure plan is agreed in advance of a company declaring its insolvency. In the United States pre-packs are often used in a Chapter 11 filing. In the United Kin ...

, with most of the former company becoming the Bay Restaurant Group on 28 March 2008, financed by Kaupthing bank. In a few months, many Icelandic banks such as Kaupthing would spectacularly collapse in October 2008. In February 2009, Tchenguiz was sued by the Kampthing bank for an unpaid overdraft of £643m.HeH was relieved of his involvement with the company by the banks to which he owed debts through an

offshore company The term "offshore company" or “offshore corporation” is used in at least two distinct and different ways. An offshore company may be a reference to: * a company, group or sometimes a division thereof, which engages in offshoring business pr ...

called Oscatello based on the

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = " Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Bri ...

. On 27 July 2009, it was bought by two banks, Commerzbank of Germany, and

Kaupthing Bank Kaupthing Bank ( is, Kaupþing banki; ) was a major international Icelandic bank, headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland. It was taken over by the Icelandic government during the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis and the domestic Icelandic ...

of Iceland, in a move to recoup debts from him. That was done via a

debt-for-equity Debt restructuring is a process that allows a private or public company or a sovereign entity facing cash flow problems and financial distress to reduce and renegotiate its delinquent debts to improve or restore accounting liquidity, liquidity so ...

swap, where Kaupthing became the major shareholder, and the company's debt was reduced by around £150m. In May 2010, the company was put up for sale, with Tragus Ltd. a potential buyer, for around £70m. In September 2010, it sold Ha Ha Bar and Grill (22 pubs) to

Mitchells & Butlers Mitchells & Butlers plc (also referred to as "M&B") runs circa 1,784 managed pubs, bars and restaurants throughout the United Kingdom. The company's headquarters are in Birmingham, England. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange an ...

for £19.5m, which saw the disappearance of the brand, with 12 becoming

All Bar One All Bar One is a pub chain consisting of 56 bars in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Mitchells and Butlers plc which was part of the Six Continents group (previously Bass) until 2003. Décor The concept was designed by Bass as a 'fema ...

. Hogshead and Yates's are now owned by the Town & City Pub Company, which is based in the same building as the Bay Restaurant Group. This company was established on the same day Tchenguiz, and is the other part of the former Laurel Pub Company, and also owned by Kaupthing. The Town & City Pub Company bought the

Slug and Lettuce Slug and Lettuce is a chain of bars that operate in the United Kingdom, with a large number located in London and South East England. As of 2017, there are a total of 70 outlets. Hugh Corbett opened the first Slug and Lettuce in Islington i ...

chain (82 pubs) in February 2010 so it is still based in the same building.

Structure

The headquarters i
situated
in the south of Luton off the dual-carriageway ''Airport Way'' ( A1081), close to junction 10a of the M1 and

Luton Airport Parkway railway station Luton Airport Parkway railway station is on the Midland Main Line in England, serving south Luton and Luton Airport in Bedfordshire. It is situated in Park Town, Luton, and is down the line from London St Pancras between to the south and to ...

, opposite Lower Kidney Wood near

Luton Hoo Luton Hoo is an English country house and estate near Luton in Bedfordshire and Harpenden in Hertfordshire. Most of the estate lies within the civil parish of Hyde, Bedfordshire. The Saxon word Hoo means the spur of a hill, and is more common ...

References

{{reflist

External links

La Tasca
Catering and food service companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Luton Pub chains Restaurants established in 2008 Restaurant groups in the United Kingdom Stonegate Pub Company