James Picton, the former group operations director at La Tasca, and Simon Rowe, former finance director at Gordon Ramsay Group, have both joined Bilbao Berria, the Spanish restaurant brand, as non-executive directors, as the company looks to build a foundation for further growth in the UK, MCA has learnt.
The company, which currently operates six restaurants in Spain, currently operates a site on Lower Regent Street, but hopes that with Picton and Rowe’s help it can initially add a further four sites to its UK estate.
Picton, who stepped down from La Tasca earlier this year, and Rowe, who is currently chief executive of Park Chinois, are currently working with brand to get it ready for further growth, in terms of gearing its offer more toward the UK market.
It is thought that once this process is completed, the company will look at further expansion opportunities, probably from the start of next year. Each new site is expected to have its own individual touches, as the company looks to operate a “collection” of restaurants in London rather than take a “cookie-cutter” approach.
The company previously teamed up with the Australian-born Ash Mair, who won BBC2’s ‘MasterChef: The Professionals’ in 2014, to open its first UK site in Lower Regent Street under its pintxos bar and restaurant format.
Founded in Barcelona in 1999 by Iñaki Lasa, Rafa Viar and Pedro Antonio, the trio opened their first restaurant in Plaza de La Catedral, Barcelona in 1999.
Building on their success there, the trio added two more venues were in the Catalan capital: one in El Born and one in L’illa Diagonal. Outside of Barcelona, further restaurants have since opened in Bilbao and in Formentera.
