Activities
Clapham House was set up in late 2003 by two former directors of PizzaExpress to buy and develop three fledgling restaurant brands with roll-out potential. The plan is to expand the three chains to some 25 sites within four to five years in the South of England, predominantly within the M25 region.
Within 13 months of its existence, the group had acquired three London-based restaurant brands covering different national cuisines – the Real Greek, the Bombay Bicycle Club, and Gourmet Burger Kitchen. All operate in the full-service, mid-spend casual-dining sector.
In 2006 the group acquired its fourth brand when it bought Urban Dining and its 30 Tootsies burger restaurants.
Founders David Page and Paul Campbell describe Clapham House as an incubator for new chains that can benefit from the cash injection and economies of scale it can provide. It is, says Page, an alternative to venture capital.
Page and Campbell have also set up Clerkenwell Ventures as an investment vehicle for high-growth leisure businesses, such as hotel management contracts and health and fitness clubs.
Timeline
- October 2003: Clapham House Group is founded by David Page and Paul Campbell, who were formerly chief executive and financial director at PizzaExpress respectively.
- November 2003: Clapham House floats on the Alternative Investment Market as a Venture Capital Trust company and raises a net £14.2m at 100p per share.
- December 2003: The group buys the Real Greek Food Company for an initial £363,000, with two earnings-based payments to follow that will total £8.8m. The Real Greek has opened three restaurants in London since 1999. Clapham House provides a £1.6m loan for expansion.
- April 2004: Clapham House buys the Bombay Bicycle group, which was established more than 20 years before by Julien Khan and Dabeedil Shawuck. It pays an initial £1.85m, followed by a second payment of £250,000 a year later. The Indian restaurant business comprises a flagship restaurant in Clapham and five home-delivery units in South-west London.
- June 2004: The group raises £7m through the secondary placement of five million new shares at 140p per share.
- November 2004: Clapham House buys its third brand, Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK), for an initial £2.6m. GBK, which was founded in 2000, has six sites across London and a menu developed with the aid of Peter Gordon, joint head chef and co-owner of the Providores restaurant in London.
- October 2005: The group completes its acquisition of GBK six months ahead of schedule. Earn-out payments tied to GBK’s strong financial performance push the total price paid for the chain to £10m.
- January 2006: Clapham House signs up GGC Burger (a subsidiary of Gourmet Gulf Company) to develop its Gourmet Burger Kitchen business across the Middle East over the next three years, with the initial focus on Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
- March 2006: Clapham House tables a cash offer of £23.5m (or 44p per share) to buy Urban Dining, the owner and operator of 30 Tootsies burger restaurants, and raises £25.4m through a placing of shares to fund the acquisition. The takeover, which completes in May, doubles the size of Clapham House, takes it outside the M25 and gives it a foothold in the shopping centre market. Clapham House intends to convert around one-third of Tootsies restaurants into Gourmet Burger Kings and reserve the Tootsies format for smaller sites and out-of-town shopping centres.
Financial snapshot
Full Year
Turnover: £17.3m (2005: £7.5m)
Pre-tax profit: £684,000 (2005: -£605,000)
Pre-tax profit before exceptional costs: £1.12m (2005: -£440,000)
Half Year
Turnover: £8.6m (2004: £2.7m)
Pre-tax profit: £281,000 (2004: -£58,000)
Financial year end: 31 March 2006
Half year end: 30 September 2005
Operating data
Total number of restaurants: 61 across four brands
Bombay Bicycle Club: 13 – 3 restaurants and 10 delivery kitchens
Gourmet Burger Kitchen: 11
Real Greek Food Company: 7
Tootsies: 30
Total number of staff: more than 1,500
Strategy
"Last year was an exciting one for Clapham House as we generated our first profits whilst substantially increasing the size of the estate of restaurants and delivery kitchens. Since the year end we have doubled the size of the Group through the acquisition of the Tootsies format and I am delighted with the rapid progress made already in integrating this business into Clapham House. Trade in the first two months of the year has also been encouraging and we are looking forward to the rest of the year with confidence."
Source: preliminary results statement, 6 June 2006
Chief executive
Paul Campbell
Key directors
Executive chairman: David Page
Group finance director: Nicholas Wong
Investment associate: George Jones
Development director and managing director, Bombay Bicycle Club: Sarah Willingham
Managing director, Gourmet Burger Kitchen: David Sykes
Operations director, Tootsies: Nabil Mankarious
Brand development director, Tootsies: Simon Blagden
85 Clerkenwell Road
London
EC1R 5AR
Tel: 020 7071 8400
Fax: 020 7071 8401
E-mail: info@claphamhousegroup.com
Website: http://www.claphamhousegroup.com
