A Newcastle leisure entrepreneur has snapped up a 112-year-old restaurant brand from administrators.
Naveen Handa, of Newcastle based hotel, bar and restaurant company The Cairn Group, has sealed a deal for the Richoux brand and intellectual property.
The deal comes after the Dining Street Limited, the group which owns Richoux Limited, Villagio and The Broadwick brands, collapsed into administration at the start of the year when it announced it would close its 15 sites, with the loss of around 150 jobs.
Richoux was launched in London in 1909 as a patisserie and confectioner, with the original tea room being based in London’s Baker Street.
The two founders sought to fuse French heritage with British surroundings, sourcing all its teas and ingredients from select suppliers.
The restaurants later became owned by Richoux Group PLC, which was listed on London’s AIM market until February 2019 before returning to private ownership under Dining Street.
Ahead of the pandemic, Richoux had restaurants in London and Port Solent.
Mr Handa, part of the family firm which has grown to become one of the 海角视频’s premium leisure groups, with a portfolio of 32 hotels and over 30 bars and restaurants across the 海角视频, said he now aims to grow the Richoux name.
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He said: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to develop this much loved, century old brand and continue to elevate for the future expansion, both in the 海角视频 and globally.”
The deal was concluded by sales agents AG&G and joint administrators from Interpath Advisory – the former restructuring practice of KPMG – who were appointed over Dining Street Limited and its two subsidiaries, Richoux Limited and Newultra Limited.
Steve Absolom, joint administrator at Interpath Advisory said: “Since our appointment as administrators, we have been struck by the strong affection held for the Richoux brand by customers and people working across the hospitality industry alike, and so we’re delighted to have completed the sale of this iconic brand to Naveen Handa.”
The sale of the Richoux brand follows a separate transaction resulting in the assignment of the former Richoux premises in South Audley Street in Mayfair, London, to an undisclosed party.
Will Wright, head of restructuring at Interpath Advisory, said: “As restaurants up and down the country start to welcome diners back, we are delighted to have secured these agreements.
“Indeed, despite these being incredibly tough times for the hospitality industry, the level of interest we have received for the Dining Street group’s business throughout the administration has been extremely positive, underlying the strong appetite from operators to provide quality casual dining experiences to consumers as we emerge from the COVID-19 crisis.”
Last year Mr Handa became part of new firm Savour Group, which was set up to rescue Vapiano restaurants in the 海角视频.
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Earlier this month Cairn Group – which owns Newcastle’s Royal Station Hotel, Redworth Hall and Spa near Newton Aycliffe, and the Hilton Doubletree near Newcastle Airport within the North East – published accounts for the year ended April 30 2020, in which turnover held up well, only dipping slightly from £96.5m to £91.2m.
It said it was continuing to see a large pick up in occupancy for the coming months.
Richoux restaurants run as franchises in Doha and Muscat have not been affected by the administration.