The future of Bistrot Pierre, the French restaurant group, has been secured following a sale of a substantial part of the business to a vehicle owned by Cherry Equity Partners.
The transaction, which was undertaken via a pre-pack administration process, ensures ten Bistrot Pierre sites around the country will continue to trade, safeguarding 394 jobs.
Regrettably, eight restaurants will close immediately, resulting in 158 redundancies. The administrators 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. 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.”
The transaction was led by Will Wright and Dom Pannozzo at Interpath. Will Wright, UK CEO of Interpath and joint administrator of Bistrot Pierre 1994 Limited, said: “We’re pleased to have been able to secure this transaction which will ensure this popular brand continues to feature on high streets around the country. We wish everyone at Bistrot Pierre and Cherry Equity Partners all the very best as they build on this new platform for growth.”
