Five Guys, the popular US burger chain, has secured its third flagship site in central London, after acquiring the Café Rouge restaurant near The Strand from Tragus, M&C Report has learnt.
The group, which earlier this week opened its twentieth UK site in Edinburgh, has acquired the 5,000sq ft site in Villiers Street that at one time was a flagship remodelled Café Rouge, with approximately 16 years left to run of the 20-year lease.
M&C Report understands that the brand paid c£1.5m to secure the unit.
The chain, which hopes to open 22 sites in the UK this year, already operates flagship sites in Covent Garden and Argyll Street.
Five Guys, the popular US burger chain, will open its twentieth UK site later this morning in Edinburgh and hopes to add 22 units in total across the country this year.
The group, which launched in the UK in the summer 2013, will open at Glasgow Silverburn next month.
The brand has also secured openings in Wimbledon, Nottingham and in the Old Brewery Quarter, Cardiff for the first half of the year.
It hopes to eventually operate 175 to 200 “high volume sites” in the UK and plans to launch in Continental Europe over the next 18 months.
Commenting on the news, Nick Weir, Joint Managing Partner at Shelley Sandzer, who acted on behalf of Tragus, said: “This is a prime A3 location that we offered to a very carefully selected shortlist of brands. Whilst demand was very strong, however, we were keen to secure a brand that would make the most of the excellent footfall derived from its position between Charing Cross station and Trafalgar Square, with Covent Garden just minutes away too.
“Having found Five Guys’ debut site in the UK, we knew this would be perfect for the brand, and have negotiated a deal in which both parties are winners.”
Richard Negus at AG&G acted on behalf of Five Guys.
