Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK), the Capricorn Ventures-backed chain, has denied speculation that it is at an early stage of reviewing its options regarding its future ownership.
Speculation regarding the future of 68-strong group, which Capricorn acquired in 2010 from Clapham House, has been building over the last few months.
However, chief executive Alasdair Murdoch told M&C: “There is no process underway and we have not beauty paraded any advisors regarding a process.”
He told M&C earlier this month that speculation was envitable as Capricorn came up to its fifth anniversary of owning the business, which has experienced double-digit, like-for-like growth for the year to date and is on track to post turnover of c£70m in its current financial year.
He said: “There are always rumours. People may talk to us about it, but at this stage we are just bubbling on, there is no process at this stage. Could there be in the future? Yes, but when is that going to be? Six months? Three years? Who knows? Our backers might decide to hold on. Historically, our shareholders are holders not sellers. We are investing hard in the fabric of the business to make it sustainable for the next five, 10, 20 years.”
The group will have 72 sites by end of its latest financial year next March, and Murdoch believes it can reach 100 by its 2018/19 year end. He says: “We will look to open more than 10 next year. What is really important for us is opening well. There is a lot of skill in our kitchens, so we know we open better by using people already in our estate. We spend a fair amount of time looking at our pipeline. We want to grow by one area manager a year. We like a mixture of internal and external appointments, that mix of experience in the business and a fresh perspective. It is about building the foundations and I think we have done that well.”
