Six companies in Chez Gerard group in administration

Six companies in the Chez Gerard group have gone into administration, prompting the sale of several sites to other operators.

The six companies, which between them comprised 32 restaurants employing 713 people, are Chez Gerard Restaurants, Craftbutton, Paramount, Caffe Uno Brasseries, Paramount Restaurants and Groupe Chez Gerard Restaurants.

Raymond Blanc's Brasserie Bar Co has already bought eight London-based Chez Gerard restaurants. The company plans to spend £4m converting the sites into Brasserie Blancs, having raised £20m of new capital from its private equity backer Core Capital.

Deloitte said it planned to continue to trade the remaining 24 sites until a buyer was found.

Meanwhile, Richard Muir, owner of Edinburgh's Café Fish, bought seafood restaurant Livebait in Manchester from Paramount Restaurants just before the Chez Gerard Group entered administration. The deal is the first for Muir's new company SBG restaurants which he has set up with William Rollason, the former executive chairman of Paramount.

Brasserie Bar Co buys eight Chez Gerard sites in London >>

Richard Muir buys Manchester seafood restaurant Livebait >>

By Neil Gerrard

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