The Vurger Co has been rescued from administration via a pre-pack deal to Neil Potts and Rachel Hugh, who founded the plant-based group in 2016.
Administrators from McTear Williams & Wood Limited and Quantuma Advisory Limited were appointed at the end of April after “a painful few years of trading”.
The business has sites in Shoreditch, London, Brighton and Manchester, but has closed its site in Canary Wharf, which only opened in 2019.
Co-founder Rachel Hugh said in a statement sent to the Evening Standard that the pandemic brought “enormous challenges” but that, the Canary Wharf site aside, The Vurger Co. restaurants remained open and the future looked positive now new investment has been secured.
She said that after a buyer pulled out of a deal to save the business at the last moment, it had to decide between closing down the company or trying to find investor support at the eleventh hour.
“It’s been a painful few years trading as a small vegan restaurant business in the UK,” she added.
“After recording strong growth, we were hit with enormous challenges due to the pandemic. We’ve worked tirelessly to build the business from scratch, and it’s been a huge challenge, but we’re proud of what we’ve achieved.”
In January this year FRP Corporate Finance confirmed that is was supporting the business to identify suitable investment opportunities to drive further growth for the business, following strong trading in the seven years since its inception. FRP are not involved in the administration case for the company.
In August last year the business secured investment from ForGood – a consultancy launched by AS Roma centre-back Chris Smalling.
