BGR nets £11m to expand Fish! chain

BGR (formerly Bank Group Restaurants) has pledged a massive expansion of its Fish! chain after agreeing in principle to sell its three upmarket restaurants for £11m.

Chairman Tony Allan said the company was selling its Bank and Zander restaurants so it could concentrate on opening more Fish! restaurants.

Those being sold are Bank, in London's Aldwych, Bank in Birmingham and Zander in London.

Allan said that he was planning to expand his five-strong Fish! chain to 150 restaurants in the UK and Ireland.

"We will do an accelerated roll-out," he pledged.

After next spring, the company plans to open one Fish! restaurant a month. It will change its name from BGR to Fish.

The new owners of the three restaurants will form a company under the name Bank Restaurant Group.

It will be headed by managing director Christian Delteil, who also becomes a non-executive director of BGR.

The company intends to float on the AIM stock market.

Allan will be non-executive chairman of the new group.

The sale is subject, among other things, to the new owners completing the fundraising they need to acquire the three restaurants. by Sara Macefield