Ego shuts two restaurants
RESTAURANT chain Ego has closed two outlets in the city centres of Manchester and Leeds.
James Horler, who owns the business with entrepreneur Luke Johnson, said revenues were increasing at the restaurants, which opened in 2009, but they were not profitable and he decided to “get out” rather than continue to trade.
“There was an opportunity to surrender the lease,” said Mr Horler. “I just got a bit nervous about Manchester – the number of restaurants and the economy. In the long term it’s the right thing to do, albeit painful in the short term.”
In addition to concerns over the economy Mr Horler said the emergence of good quality restaurants in suburban areas had undermined the potential of Manchester’s city centre. He said the same reasons had contributed to the decision to pull out of Leeds. “I think our offer is more suited to suburban locations where we constantly trade well.”
Both restaurants closed on December 23 with the loss of some 30 jobs. Six staff have been taken on by the group in other roles. Mr Horler said he was still committed to growing the group but fears over the impact of Government spending cuts on the North meant Ego would now expand in London and the south east.
The move came just three months after Luke Johnson, who made his fortune building the Pizza Express chain and subsequently invested in restaurants including Belgo and Strada, bought private equity firm Lloyds Development Capital’s (LDC) 58% stake in the business. LDC invested £9.1m in 2008 for its majority stake. It is not known how much Mr Johnson paid for the shares.
The business, which specialises in Mediterranean food, now has eight restaurants in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire; Heswall, Merseyside; Liverpool; Stockton Heath, Warrington; Bramhall, Cheshire; Lichfield, Staffordshire; Kenilworth, Warwickshire and Sheffield. The lease on the firm’s outlet in Prestwich was sold to the Panama Hatty’s chain last year.
Bolton-based Ego is run by executive chairman Mr Horler who grew the tapas chain La Tasca to 74 restaurants before it was sold for £136m to tycoon Robert Tchenguiz in 2007.
