The Restaurant Group


The Restaurant Group plc is a British chain of restaurants and public houses. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE SmallCap Index.

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 in Leicester.
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 for £559m, to diversify its portfolio.
On 3 June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, 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 and planned to cut 125 sites.

Operations

The company operates around 350 restaurants and public houses under the several brands, including: