Roger Myers (born 1947) is the co-founder of Punch Taverns, one of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

's largest chains of

public houses A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

Early life

Born in

East Ham East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a Major Centre. The population is 76,186. It was originally part of the Becontree Hun ...

and educated at Quintin Kynaston Grammar School, Roger Myers joined ''Goodman Myers Smith'', a firm of accountants in 1964.Restaurateur who rides his fortune: Roger Myers - The seemingly happy-go-lucky head of the Cafe Rouge chain tells William Kay about his ambitions to be number one
Independent, 17 July 1994

Career

In 1966 he became a

Partner Partner, Partners, The Partner, or, The Partners may refer to: Books * ''The Partner'' (Grisham novel), by John Grisham, 1997 * ''The Partner'' (Jenaro Prieto novel), 1928 * ''The Partners'' (book), a 1983 book by James B. Stewart * ''Partner'' (m ...

in the firm which helped artists such as

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

minimise their tax. In 1977, working with

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

, he formed the ''Good Earth Productions'' record label, producing records for artists including

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

and Marc Bowlan. Then the following year he broke with Visconti and, working with Alan Lubin, established ''Peppermint Park'', a cocktail bar in

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

, as well as the ''Coconut Grove'' and ''Fatso's Pasta Joint'' restaurants. They then sold the cocktail bar and the restaurants to

Courage Courage (also called bravery or valor) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in battle. Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, h ...

who employed them to set up the ''Dome'' Brasserie chain. Myers then acquired the cocktail bar, the restaurants and the ''Dome'' and floated them as ''Theme Holdings'': the business was subsequently sold to ''Leisure Investments plc''. In 1989 he established

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 adding other themed restaurants created the ''Pelican Group''. He sold the business to Whitbread in July 1996. In 1997, together with business partner

Hugh Osmond Hugh Edward Mark Osmond (born March 1962) is an entrepreneur and businessman and was the founder of Punch Taverns, one of the UK's largest chains of public houses. Early life Hugh Edward Mark Osmond was born in March 1962, the son of a doctor, a ...

, he founded Punch Taverns. In 1999 Punch purchased Inn Business Group plc, and later

Allied Domecq Allied Domecq PLC was an international company, headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent but has been acquired by Pernod Ricard. They ...

's pubs for £3 billion, beating a rival bid from Whitbread. After the deal, Punch spun off its managed pubs into a separate division, Punch Retail, which was later renamed ''Spirit Group''. In 2002 Punch demerged the '' Spirit Group'' and then floated itself on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

went on to become Britain's second largest pub landlord. In 2005, he moved to St Lucia “to drink rum and do nothing”. Instead, he purchased The Jalousie Plantation Hotel and completed a multimillion dollar transition that saw the property re-branded and re-launched as Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Resort on 30 November 2012, under the continued management of the Viceroy Hotel Group. Viceroy has managed the property since 2008. In 2016, The Times and Sunday Times Travel Awards recognized Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Hotel as 'The Best Long-haul Hotel In The World'. In 2019, Myers sold Sugar Beach to Misland Capital.

Personal Life

He is married to Lee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, Roger 1948 births British company founders British hospitality businesspeople English businesspeople Living people People from East Ham