Various Eateries Trading Limited,

trading as A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...

Strada, is a chain based in the United Kingdom of branded

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

s specialising in

Italian cuisine Italian cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine#CITEREFDavid1988, David 1988, Introduction, pp. 101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes, and cooking techniques developed in Italy since Ancient Roman cuisine, Roman times, and later spread ...

with two Strada sites and six Coppa Clubs, all in

Southern England Southern England, also known as the South of England or the South, is a sub-national part of England. Officially, it is made up of the southern, south-western and part of the eastern parts of England, consisting of the statistical regions of ...

History

The concept was spawned by Luke Johnson in 2000 and, over five years, expanded to thirty restaurants. In September 2005,

Richard Caring Richard Allan Caring (born 4 June 1948) is a British businessman. He initially built a business, International Clothing Designs, supplying Hong Kong-manufactured fashion to UK retailers. In 2004 he diversified his business interest into proper ...

bought the chain from Johnson for £60m. During this period of ownership, twenty more restaurants were added to the chain and, in May 2007 they, along with 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, were acquired by Tragus Group Ltd for £140m, owner of the brands Cafe Rouge,

Bella Italia The Big Table Group Limited, trading as 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, which also ...

, Potters Bar & Kitchen and Huxleys. In 2007 Targus signed a concession agreement with holiday park operator Center Parcs UK and Ireland This led to the opening of Strada Restaurants at the Company’s Sherwood and Longleat sites and was Expanded in 2014 with the opening of a Strada Restaurant at Center parcs new village in Woburn. Following Strada’s sale in 2014 CDG operated the Center parcs sites as legacy restaurants until 2016 when they were rebranded as

. The Woburn site continued to operate as Strada until 2020, when it closed and was rebranded as a new concept restaurant called Amalfi. In September 2012, Strada joined the

Nectar loyalty card Nectar is a loyalty card scheme in the United Kingdom run by Nectar 360 Limited, company wholly owned by Sainsbury's. The scheme is the largest in the United Kingdom, and comprises a number of partner companies including Sainsbury's, Esso, Argos ...

reward scheme as a redemption partner. In July 2013, Strada began a partnership with the Gourmet Society, offering their members discounts on production of a Gourmet Society restaurant discount card. In September 2014, forty three of Strada restaurants were bought by

Hugh Osmond Hugh Edward Mark Osmond (born 24 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 on 24 March 1962, the son of a do ...

Sun Capital Partners Sun Capital Partners, Inc., is an American private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyouts. Sun Capital was founded in 1995 by Marc J. Leder and Rodger Krouse, former classmates at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and ...

from Tragus Group (renamed

Casual Dining Group The Big Table Group Limited, formerly Tragus Group and Casual Dining Group (CDG), is a hospitality company in the United Kingdom. The Big Table operates restaurants primarily under the Bella Italia, Café Rouge, Frankie & Benny's and Las Iguanas ...

) for £37m, retaining their existing management team, led by James Spragg. In 2017, over twenty restaurants closed, in turn, many other branded restaurant companies also closed many sites in 2017 and 2018. As of , Strada has one site in London Southbank and thirteen Coppa club sites (with two sites of Strada turning into one Coppa Club).

Charity

In March 2013, Strada were official partners of

Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

, the British charity founded in 1985 that aims to "bring about positive and lasting change in the lives of poor and disadvantaged people."

Tipping and minimum wage

In June 2009, the company was found to be threatening to dismiss wait staff who do not get customers to pay tips on credit cards rather than in cash. Credit card tips were used by the company to subsidise wages (which are usually the legal minimum) whereas cash tips go directly to wait staff. In line with changes to tipping legislation, which came into effect on 1 October 2009, Tragus Ltd. 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, are now distributed through the payroll system to restaurant staff. All Tragus Group employees are now paid tips in addition to the National Minimum Wage.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2000 establishments in England British companies established in 2000 Companies based in the City of Westminster Italian restaurants in the United Kingdom Pizza chains of the United Kingdom Restaurant chains in the United Kingdom Restaurants established in 2000

History

Charity

Tipping and minimum wage

See also

References

External links