Orchid buys 10 Bar Room Bars from administrators

Orchid Group, the UK’s fifth largest pub operator, has rescued 10 Bar Room Bar sites from administration, securing 200 jobs.

The deal, which will allow the unbranded and branded Bar Room Bar sites to continue trading under their existing guise, forms part of Orchid’s strategy to acquire distressed assets in the pub and restaurant sector.

It marks the return to the Orchid fold for the Bar Room Bar brand, which was sold, along with 16 sites, to a Birmingham-based operator for £20m in 2007.

The operator took on the Bar Room Bar name, but collapsed this April after ongoing cashflow difficulties.

Orchid first took on the Bar Room Bar brand in June 2006, when its backer GI Partners took on 290 managed sites from Punch Taverns.

Rufus Hall, chief executive of Orchid, said: “Acquiring these ten profitable unbranded and branded businesses is absolutely in line with our strategy to lead sector consolidation. 

“This is an exciting day for Orchid as this represents the first of many acquisitions to come, thus enabling us to continue to leverage our position as a leading player in the managed sector.”

Orchid itself went into administration last December, which led to the sale of the majority of the business to a new company led by Orchid’s existing management team, as part of a financial restructuring

Phil Kaziewicz, managing director of GI Partners, said: “We fully supported Orchid’s restructuring because we felt confident in the group’s ability to adapt and evolve the business in line with current economic conditions.

“We are pleased to already be seeing the well thought out strategy paying off; not only benefiting the Orchid Group but saving businesses and hundreds of jobs in the process.”

Orchid Group rescued from administration >>

Orchid Group closes 14 pubs and cuts 150 jobs before Christmas >>

Orchid plans 20 new Contemporary Carverys >>

Punch Taverns sells 290 pubs to GI Partners for £571m >>

By Daniel Thomas

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