Growth on the menu after Northcote investment deal

LANCASHIRE businessman and former Blackburn Rovers director Richard Matthewman and his wife have invested in Northcote, the restaurant group led by award-winning chef Nigel Haworth.

The Matthewmans have taken a stake in the group, and their funding will help expand the £10m turnover business, including extending the Northcote boutique hotel neart Blackburn by 10 bedrooms to 24.

The group also intends to acquire six to eight more pubs for its Ribble Valley Inns division, which currently includes four gastro-pubs, three in Lancashire and a fourth in Yorkshire.

In a statement Mr Howarth and his business partner Craig Bancroft said: “We are delighted to announce this new partnership after 29 years together and welcome Richard Matthewman as chairman of the board.

“We will continue in our roles as joint managing directors. This committed investment is fantastic news for each and everyone involved in The Northcote Group; all our dedicated staff, loyal customers and trusted suppliers alike.”

As well as the Northcote hotel and the pubs, the group also includes the
Northcote at the Rovers catering business which has provided matchday, banqueting and conference facilities at Blackburn Rovers FC for the last 11 years.