Gourmet Burger Kitchen closes 12 restaurants: which cities will be affected by the brand's sales.

According to The Sun: The popular gourmet burger restaurant chain plans to close 12 of its establishments as part of a deal with one of its competitors.

Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) will transfer 12 restaurants to Honest Burgers, effectively halving the number of GBK establishments, as the chain currently operates over 20 restaurants.

While the exact addresses of the closed restaurants are not yet known, Honest Burgers is preparing to expand in London and other regions, including the Midlands, Southeast, and East England.

According to the agreement, these establishments will be rebranded under the Honest Burgers brand, reports The Caterer. This means they will remain burger restaurants but will no longer be managed by GBK.

Honest Burgers has not confirmed when exactly the new restaurants will take on the new name.

This event comes against the backdrop of GBK having already closed 26 restaurants and cut more than 350 jobs in 2020, although it has managed to avoid bankruptcy.

The chain was acquired by the Boparan Restaurant Group five years ago as part of a pre-administration process.

“Pre-administration” is a procedure whereby a business sells its assets before official administrators are appointed, which is a way of transferring the company to a new owner.

Locations of the chain

Currently, the chain has restaurants at the following addresses:

• Belsize Park
• Birmingham Brindleyplace
• Bluewater
• Bracknell
• Brighton
• Bristol Cabot Circus
• Bristol Cribbs Causeway
• Brunswick
• Chiswick
• East Dulwich
• Kingston-upon-Thames
• Lakeside
• Leamington Spa
• Norwich
• Oxford
• Reading
• South Kensington
• Trafford Centre
• Waterloo
• West Hampstead
• Westfield London
• Westfield Stratford
• Wimbledon

Martin Owen, the group HR director of Boparan, noted:

“This is a strategic opportunity for GBK that allows us to focus on our core growth area — delivery.”

As a result of the deal, Honest Burgers gains the opportunity to expand its chain to over 50 restaurants in the UK.

Thomas Kelly, chairman of the board of Honest Burgers, added:

“This deal is an important step in our strategic plan to quadruple the size of the business over the next five years. We look forward to further events and opportunities that this brings.”

Other restaurant chains in difficulty

GBK is not the only restaurant chain undergoing changes. Competition is increasing, and its competitor Byron may also face bankruptcy and plans to enter administration.

The Italian restaurant chain Gusto recently closed six of its establishments after being acquired by investment firm Cherry Equity Partners, which also led to the use of the pre-administration process.

The Busaba Eathai chain, founded by the creator of Wagamama, received administrators in July, while Oakman Inns & Restaurants also entered administration earlier this year, closing six establishments and laying off 159 workers.

Thus, the situation in the UK dining industry remains tense, with some chains trying to grow while others are fighting for survival. Support and investment in new projects may become key factors for those remaining in the market.