Greene King acquires Hickory’s

Greene King has announced its acquisition of Hickory’s, a BBQ smokehouse restaurant group, for an undisclosed sum, with plans to grow it into a national dining brand.

As part of the transaction, Greene King plans to accelerate the national roll out of the Hickory’s brand beyond the North West, with “significant” growth over time by optimising Greene King assets.

Hickory’s operates 17 restaurants across the Midlands and North West, and was founded in 2010 by Neil McDonnell.

As part of Greene King, the business will continue to be run by its management team, McDonnell, and spearheaded by John Welsh (managing director).

Greene King said Hickory’s is highly complementary to its current portfolio of brands and geographical reach. It added that the group has performed exceptionally well since reopening following the pandemic, with trading “underpinned by an offer centred around authenticity, experience and great value”.

Overall, meats are slow cooked for up to 12 hours on smokers specially imported from Memphis, and customer dining experiences include chef’s tables, dining verandas, cinemas and children’s play areas.

Nick Mackenzie, Greene King CEO, said: “Hickory’s is an outstanding business which has established itself as one of the UK’s leading BBQ smokehouse restaurant operators. This is a business which has a commitment to authentic hospitality and dining experience, and which has an offer loved by its customers, old and new.

“We are confident that we can take Hickory’s to the next chapter in its history, and we look forward to working with John and the whole of the Hickory’s team as we focus on building it into a national dining brand.”

Neil McDonnell, founder of Hickory’s, added: “We are delighted to have this investment from Greene King which enables us to bring the Hickory’s smokehouse offer to many more guests and locations. This will provide our teams with fantastic opportunities for growth and development.”