Irwin Mitchell’s Corporate Team Advises On Admission

Ambitious restaurant group, Various Eateries plc, has today started trading on AIM as it looks to expand across the UK.

The company, which has been advised by Irwin Mitchell, announced earlier this month that it intended to float on AIM and raise £25m by way of a placing of its Ordinary Shares. It has successfully done so today, with a market cap on admission of £65m.

Various Eateries operates two core contemporary brands - Coppa Club and Tavolino. It currently operates across ten locations in London and the South East.

The directors believe that both are well positioned for the new market conditions. 

Hugh Osmond, Founder of Various Eateries, said: “To be launching our flotation into the teeth of the worst crisis ever faced by the hospitality industry is an incredible achievement. It is a testament to the strength of the Various Eateries team and to our brokers, WH Ireland. 

“Adversity is the backdrop to the creation of many of the greatest ventures, not just in business but in life. I helped to build up PizzaExpress out of the UK recession of the early 1990s; we will build up Various Eateries out of the devastation caused by this current crisis.

“I believe we have one of the best and most experienced teams ever put together in this industry. Between us we have run thousands of restaurants, pubs, clubs and hotels, and built some of the UK’s largest and most successful hospitality businesses over more than 27 years. We have seen good times and we have seen bad. 

“We will take new sites, build new venues, employ new people and create new places for people to go, on the high street and in local communities. Our industry creates entry level jobs for people just out of school or university: the only qualifications required are to be able to work hard and to be a nice person.

“I am sad to see many high streets devastated by the turmoil in hospitality and retail. But we will take those empty sites and turn them into busy all-day community hubs suited for how people in the post-Covid 2020s will want to live. 

“Hospitality is about so much more than food and drink. Hospitality is about freedom, frivolity and fun; it is about providing places that human beings want to go to in order to meet other human beings, to socialise and to enjoy life. 

“To many, this crisis is an existential threat; but it is also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a new, major leisure business, based on how people want to live now.

“That is why we are floating Various Eateries today and that is what we are raising money to try to achieve.”

Corporate partners Daniel Bastide and James Paton-Philip at national law firm Irwin Mitchell advised Various Eateries plc on the IPO. They were supported by Charlie Milsom, Christian Vale, Jeff Carvell, Tom Morrish and Harriet Clark (Corporate) Hannah Nix (Real Estate) and Natalie Flynn (Employment).

Expert Opinion

“This is of course a difficult time for the hospitality sector and although the environment remains very uncertain, these challenges do bring opportunities.

“The business has a hugely experienced and talented management team and this has clearly been recognised by the many institutions and other investors who have subscribed for shares.

“This is an exciting milestone for the business and I am confident that it will succeed.” Daniel Bastide - Partner

The company and the group are led by a highly experienced senior team, including Executive Chairman, Andy Bassadone and Founder Hugh Osmond as a Non-Executive Director.

Andy Bassadone has considerable experience in the restaurant sector having founded Strada in 1999 and selling it in 2005 for £56m. He went on to launch two other successful restaurant concepts including market leading French Bistro chain Côte in 2007. This was sold by Andy and his team for £100m in 2013 and in 2015 it was sold again for £240m. He later headed up the expansion of Bill’s Restaurants growing it to c.65 sites and The Ivy Collection in later years.

Hugh Osmond is behind the expansion of PizzaExpress, which he bought in 1993 when it was still a chain of 12 restaurants. He left it in 2001 after having turned it around to a 367-strong estate. He also co-founded Punch Taverns in 1997 which expanded to 8,000 outlets and an enterprise value of £3.5bn in 2005.

WH Ireland Limited acted as Sole Broker and Nominated Adviser in relation to the admission and RSM Corporate Finance LLP acted as Reporting Accountants.