Cherry Equity Partners rescues Bistrot Pierre out of administration
However, the transaction did not include eight other restaurants which will close immediately, resulting in 158 redundancies
French restaurant group Bistrot Pierre has been acquired by a vehicle owned by Cherry Equity Partners in a pre-pack administration process, ensuring that 10 sites will continue to trade and safeguarding exactly 394 jobs.
However, the transaction did not include eight other restaurants which will close immediately, resulting in 158 redundancies.
The administrators from Interpath Advisory will be providing all available support to those impacted as a matter of priority.
Nick White, CEO of Bistrot Pierre, said: “We are delighted to have secured the future of the business and, with the backing of Cherry Equity Partners, now have a strong platform in place for future growth.
“At the same time, we are tremendously sad to see eight of our sites close. The impending increases in National Minimum Wage and National Insurance contributions will add hundreds of thousands of pounds to our costs, making our smaller locations simply unviable.”
He added: “We’d like to express our sincere thanks to our teams that have worked so hard to serve the fantastic customers that have visited these locations over the years.”
Ed Standring, CEO of Cherry Equity Partners, said: “This investment marks our second acquisition in as many months, and underscores our deep commitment to the UK hospitality sector – an industry we’re incredibly passionate about and one we believe is full of opportunity.
“Bistrot Pierre is a well-loved Bistrot, bar and boutique rooms business with a great heritage, and we’re looking forward to working with Nick and the team to invest and grow the business.”
Bistrot Pierre’s latest filing at Companies House for the year ending June 2023 revealed that inflation, which was as high as 10% at the time, was a major factor in the closure of its Newport and Altrincham locations.
During the year, the group underwent a “significant” restructuring, resulting in substantial job cuts. Consequently, turnover decreased by £4m to £24.4m, and experienced a loss of £2m. The number of employees fell by 120 from the previous year to 669.