The Business Growth Fund (BGF), which earlier this week took a significant minority stake in Giggling Squid, has not ruled out making further investments in the UK’s hospitality sector.
Established in 2012 with capital of up to £2.5bn, BGF is backed by Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered and has so far invested just shy of £40m in the hospitality sector.
A spokesman told M&C: “We have no hard or fast rule in terms of how much we will invest in a single sector, what we are looking to create is a balanced portfolio across all the sectors we place funds into.”
Alongside Giggling Squid (£6.4m), the group has also made investments in Barburrito (£3.25m), Camino (c£3m), Peyton & Byrne (£6.25m) and Wear Inns (£8m), Boost Juice Bars (£2.5m).
As part of the Giggling Squid deal, Simon Kossoff, co-founder and chairman of Carluccio’s, became the 13-strong group’s non-executive chairman, with BGF’s Jon Simon also taking a non-executive director role.
BGF reviously ran the rule over the Thai Leisure Group and shown an interest in the likes of Comptoir Libanais and Pesto.
The real measure of its success will be when it looks to make its first exit but its recent further investment in Barburrito, which aided its acquisition of Pinto Mexican Kitchen, suggests it has a long-term interest in the sector.
