It's looking like a good week for "serial" entrepreneurs.
Steve Wilkins having sold his Thomas & Carter chain for £6m on Friday is already up and running with his next venture. Meanwhile, Luke Johnson appears finally to be putting together the finance for a management buy-out at Signature Restaurants û a pretty run-of-the-mill deal for a man of Johnson's experience one would have thought.
Doing deals gets in the blood, but learning what you are good at and sticking to it is a more difficult discipline to master. Steve Wilkins and his long-time business partners, John Connell and Rachel Slater, understand that, however.
The Thomas & Carter sale to Massive has followed fairly swiftly on the heels of the £4.3m disposal of the Smith & Jones concept to Ambishus. As Wilkins said at our Pub Strategy & Investment Conference in March: "Our strength really lies in starting it off and building up to a size of maybe 12 or 15. It needs a different set of skills to take it and grow it on to something bigger. That is not really where our expertise lies."
So we know what to expect of Wilkins and co over the next few years.
Similarly, when the likes of Luke Johnson are around, it is not unreasonable to expect some dealing to be done. With Signature Restaurants, owner of the Belgo and Strada chains, the only surprise is that a move to sell or take private has not happened earlier û the rumours have been rife.
Johnson, working with incumbent chief executive Andy Bassadone, may well start a round of deals that sees a string of quoted restaurant and bar business reverting to private ownership.
The Gaucho Grill saga has been running for some time, and speculation is growing that Groupe Chez Gerard is working towards a stock market exit with founder Neville Abraham back in charge and with O Hambro Capital Management now sitting on a significant 29.7% stake.
And if deals depend on people, Tony Allan's Fish! and Bank restaurant investments might also come into the frame as buy-out or sale candidates somewhere down the line. Fish!, like Chez Gerard, has been trimming its top management of late.
But perhaps the man to keep the closest eye on is another renowned "serial" investor and deal-doer, Alan Jackson. He is in the chair at Jamies Bars, already attracting outside interest, and City Centre Restaurants, coming through its big strategic reorganisation.
Also intriguingly Jackson is on the board of the unquoted Living Ventures, owner of the fast growing Living Room chain. Its chief executive and major shareholder is Tim Bacon, who once worked for Steve Wilkins at TGI Fridays, and is no mean "serial" player himself, having built-up and sold both the Via Vita and Life Café chains.
Not just a good week, but perhaps and good year ahead for the "serial" entrepreneurs û and those that keep a track of them?
Steve Wilkins having sold his Thomas & Carter chain for £6m on Friday is already up and running with his next venture. Meanwhile, Luke Johnson appears finally to be putting together the finance for a management buy-out at Signature Restaurants û a pretty run-of-the-mill deal for a man of Johnson's experience one would have thought.
Doing deals gets in the blood, but learning what you are good at and sticking to it is a more difficult discipline to master. Steve Wilkins and his long-time business partners, John Connell and Rachel Slater, understand that, however.
The Thomas & Carter sale to Massive has followed fairly swiftly on the heels of the £4.3m disposal of the Smith & Jones concept to Ambishus. As Wilkins said at our Pub Strategy & Investment Conference in March: "Our strength really lies in starting it off and building up to a size of maybe 12 or 15. It needs a different set of skills to take it and grow it on to something bigger. That is not really where our expertise lies."
So we know what to expect of Wilkins and co over the next few years.
Similarly, when the likes of Luke Johnson are around, it is not unreasonable to expect some dealing to be done. With Signature Restaurants, owner of the Belgo and Strada chains, the only surprise is that a move to sell or take private has not happened earlier û the rumours have been rife.
Johnson, working with incumbent chief executive Andy Bassadone, may well start a round of deals that sees a string of quoted restaurant and bar business reverting to private ownership.
The Gaucho Grill saga has been running for some time, and speculation is growing that Groupe Chez Gerard is working towards a stock market exit with founder Neville Abraham back in charge and with O Hambro Capital Management now sitting on a significant 29.7% stake.
And if deals depend on people, Tony Allan's Fish! and Bank restaurant investments might also come into the frame as buy-out or sale candidates somewhere down the line. Fish!, like Chez Gerard, has been trimming its top management of late.
But perhaps the man to keep the closest eye on is another renowned "serial" investor and deal-doer, Alan Jackson. He is in the chair at Jamies Bars, already attracting outside interest, and City Centre Restaurants, coming through its big strategic reorganisation.
Also intriguingly Jackson is on the board of the unquoted Living Ventures, owner of the fast growing Living Room chain. Its chief executive and major shareholder is Tim Bacon, who once worked for Steve Wilkins at TGI Fridays, and is no mean "serial" player himself, having built-up and sold both the Via Vita and Life Café chains.
Not just a good week, but perhaps and good year ahead for the "serial" entrepreneurs û and those that keep a track of them?
