Little Chef enters administration

Roadside restaurant chain Little Chef has called in the administrators after failing to find a buyer or refinance the business.

 

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was called in to wind up the business after it suffered "significant losses".

 

PwC announced it had sold 196 of the group's 235 restaurant sites to private equity company RCapital, saving "the majority" of its 4,000 jobs.

 

PwC added it was reviewing the future of the rest of the business.

 

PwC joint administrator Ian Green said that while it was "disappointing" that efforts to save the group failed he was "delighted" recent negotiations would see almost 200 Little Chef restaurants continue trading.

 

Big losses

 

On Tuesday it was reported that the firm, said to be losing up to £3m a year, was involved in takeover talks.

 

The business, which employs 4,000 people, was bought last year for £52m by its chief executive Simon Heath and the People's Restaurant Group, headed by catering magnate Lawrence Wosskow.

 

Since its foundation in 1958, the firm has had a rather convoluted history that has involved it being passed between a number of different parent companies, including Granada and Compass.

 

More than 20 million people visit Little Chef roadside outlets each year.

 

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/business/6225835.stm

I used to love going to Little Chef when I was younger. I'd always look forward to having pancakes with maple syrup for dessert and getting a lollipop on the way out.

 

I hope it doesn't close completely because I think I might want to go now..

I remember having to re-mortgage last time I looked at Little Chef menu prices.

I remember having to re-mortgage last time I looked at Little Chef menu prices.

 

Yup - that was their big problem............................

 

Is there a suggestion that somebody had cooked the books??:rolleyes: