Mon, 15 Apr 2013 | BUSINESS SALE
The Little Chef roadside restaurant business has been put up for sale after being rescued from administration six years ago.
RCapital, who specialise in turning around distressed businesses, bought the firm in 2007. The group worked hard to revamp its acquisition's image, even appointing TV chef Heston Blumenthal to revamp its menu in a Channel 4 documentary.
It also sold off a lot of its restaurants and cut down the business from 200 sites to around 80 of what it deemed to be the most profitable road-side sites.
A statement confirmed: "Over the last six years, RCapital has successfully completed an operational turnaround and financial restructuring, which has repositioned the business and brought the group of companies back into profitability.
"The move was part of a long-term critical rebuild strategy to create consistently profitable sites against the backdrop of one of the worst recessions in living memory. With the turnaround successfully completed, it's time to explore the next phase for the food service operator."
KPMG has been appointed to handle the business sale and find a buyer for the chain. Among those thought likely to show an interest in the company are service station operators, such as Moto and Welcome Break, as well as coffee chains like Costa that are working to expand their presence across the country.
The first Little Chef was opened in 1958 and was located on the first motorway in the UK. It became closely associated with long trips by car and took on a similar image as that of diners in the US, which was initially very popular.
However, as the market changed, Little Chef failed to keep up with new trends and developments and was pushed into administration. It is thought that the sale of the business signals that RCapital has succeeded in its turnaround efforts and the firm is looking like a viable business once again.
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