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The Restaurant Group plc is a British chain of restaurants and
public house 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 ...
s. It is listed 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 ...
.


History

The company was founded by Matthew Brown from Chatteris in 1987 as City Centre Restaurants plc with the objective of owning and managing the Garfunkel's Restaurant chain. In the late 1980s, the company bought the Mexican foodchain Chi Chi's and renamed it Chiquito. Then, in 1995, it opened its first
Frankie & Benny's Frankie & Benny's (now trading as Frankie's) is a chain of Italian-American-themed restaurants in the United Kingdom run by The Restaurant Group. , it had 90 outlets nationwide. History In 1924, at the age of 10, Frankie Giuliani left Sicily wit ...
in
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...
. In January 2004, the company changed its name to The Restaurant Group plc. In February 2004, it made an unsuccessful bid for Ask Central plc, and in 2006, it bought back the Deep Pan Pizza chain, which it had previously sold to the management. In 2016, the company announced it was closing 33 restaurants due to falling sales and profits. In 2018, The Restaurant Group purchased noodle chain
Wagamama Wagamama (stylised as ''wagamama'') is a British restaurant chain, serving Asian food based on Japanese cuisine. History The first Wagamama was opened in 1992 in Bloomsbury, London, founded by Alan Yau, who subsequently created the Chinese rest ...
for £559m, to diversify its portfolio. In May 2018, the Brunning & Price division purchased the Ribble Valley Inns, a collection of restaurant and real ale pubs in the north of England, from the Northcote Group for an undisclosed sum; and in August 2018, the division purchased the 11-strong portfolio of Food & Fuel Pubs, which included two Coco Momo wine bars, for £15.4 million. On 3 June 2020, during the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confir ...
, The Restaurant Group told employees a "large number" of its outlets would not reopen after lockdown; up to 120 restaurants, mainly Frankie & Benny's, were set to close permanently, with the loss of between 2,000 and 3,000 jobs. On 8 June, The Restaurant Group said it was in discussions with its landlords about potential restructuring options, and three days later announced it had entered a
company voluntary arrangement Under UK insolvency law an insolvent company can enter into a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). The CVA is a form of composition, similar to the personal IVA ( individual voluntary arrangement), where an insolvency procedure allows a compa ...
(CVA) and planned to cut 125 sites. In October 2020 the business suffered a significant shareholder revolt over the proposed pay package of its chief executive, Andy Hornby. After a year involving over 4,000 job losses and approximately 230 restaurant closures more than a third of investors opposed the package.


Operations

As of December 2019, The Restaurant Group plc operated over 400 restaurants and pub restaurants throughout the UK. It also operates a multi‐brand Concessions business which trades principally in UK airports. In addition, the Wagamama business had 6 restaurants in the US and over 50 franchise restaurants operating across a number of territories.


Subsidiaries

*Brunning & Price * Chiquito * Coast to Coast *
Frankie & Benny's Frankie & Benny's (now trading as Frankie's) is a chain of Italian-American-themed restaurants in the United Kingdom run by The Restaurant Group. , it had 90 outlets nationwide. History In 1924, at the age of 10, Frankie Giuliani left Sicily wit ...
* Garfunkel's *
Wagamama Wagamama (stylised as ''wagamama'') is a British restaurant chain, serving Asian food based on Japanese cuisine. History The first Wagamama was opened in 1992 in Bloomsbury, London, founded by Alan Yau, who subsequently created the Chinese rest ...


See also

*
List of companies based in London This is a list of companies in London, England. London is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. With an estimated 8,308,369 residents in 2012, London is the most populous region, urban zone and metropolitan area in the United ...


References


External links

*
Frankie & Benny'sChiquito
{{DEFAULTSORT:Restaurant Group British companies established in 1987 Companies based in the London Borough of Southwark Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Restaurants established in 1987 Restaurant groups in the United Kingdom