Steve Hill, former chief executive of Wagamama, is to take over the running of Las Iguanas, the Bowmark Capital-backed chain, from co-founder Eren Ali at the start of next year, as the restaurant and bar group enters a key stage in its development.
Hill, who returned to the sector earlier this year as chair of Pho, has been appointed as non-executive director and CEO designate of the 30-strong chain, which expects to add a further six sites to its estate by the end of the year.
Ali will remain in the business he started in 1991 as founder director.
The move sees Hill reunite with former Wagamama mentor Ian Neill, who is chairman of Las Iguanas.
Ali said: “After 23 years at the helm of Las Iguanas and with the business now in the strongest possible shape setting historic performance records, I feel the time is right to step back from the day to day running of the operation and with the appointment of Steve I’m confident that I’m putting Las Iguanas in to an excellent pair of hands. I’ll be working closely with Steve to support his integration in to the team over the coming months.”
Neill said: “I’m very pleased that Steve will be joining Las Iguanas at a key point in the company’s growth story. Steve and I worked together for many years at Wagamama and on a personal note I will be delighted to be working with him again.”
At Wagamama, Hill oversaw its growth in the UK estate from 28 to 82 units and led the sale of the business by Lion Capital to Duke Street Capital, generating a shareholder return in excess of 3x investment
Las Iguanas will open at Wembley’s London Designer Outlet Village in October and has further sites lines up at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol, Swansea, Glasgow and Chester.
It is also believed to be close to securing units in Exeter and Bournemouth.
Comment by M&C Report editor Mark Wingett
Last December, Eren Ali said that Las Iguanas could eventually grow to 100 sites and was set to explore opportunities internationally for the brand after receiving approaches from potential franchisees, with China and India mooted as possible destinations.
Both tasks seem well within the scope of chief executive-in-waiting Steve Hill, who alongside Ian Neill, placed Wagamama well on the road to reaching the 100-mark in the UK and put in place the majority of its overseas, franchise-led expansion.
Hill had been out of the sector since last June before taking the chairman role at Pho, the Vietnamese concept - a role he will still continue in – but many felt that it wouldn’t be long before he got back to a more hands-on role.
For Bowmark, which acquired Las Iguanas for £27m in 2006, Hill’s appointment looks both very sensible and very cute. Ali himself said late last year that on average the group’s backers had stayed with it for six years at a time, but that the current climate would “probably add 18 months” on to that timescale this time around.
It is thought that Bowmark would like to reach the 40-site mark in the UK before pushing the sale-process button, a target they should reach around the middle of next year, helped by a rollout strategy that is now taking in out-of-town locations.
Hill will be seen a safe pair of hands to oversee any moves internationally and also an eventual sale, with new investors attracted by his track record at Wagamama, while Ali can now look forward to enjoying the fruits of 22 years of work in building up the business into a national brand with a c£34m turnover.
From January, the Bristol-based Hill will be able to walk into work as he starts the process of taking Las Iguanas on the next part of its journey.
