Jamie Barber raises £5m for Cabana and Hush
Jamie Barber, chief executive of Brazilian Barbecue group Cabana and the Hush Brasseries group has successfully raised £5m to grow the two brands.
Together with a debt facility from its bankers HSBC, the money was raised from shareholders including Saracens owner Nigel Wray, French Connection founder Stephen Marks and Zoopla and Lovefilm founder Alex Chesterman.
It means that Barber now has £2m to invest in Hush, and £3m in Cabana.
He said: "We have a significant war chest to be used to expand both brands. Brazil is certainly flavour of the month, and our brasseries are performing strongly. Our combined turnover is knocking on the door of £20m, and we feel that the climate is right for us to push forward with both brands."
With five sites in London, Cabana will expand nationally with three further openings by the end of the year, including a site in Leeds and a flagship site at the O2 Arena.
Along with business partners David Ponte and Lizzy Barber, Jamie has just released Cabana: The Cookbook, published by Quadrille, and in partnership with Covent Garden, the group will launch the Grill from Ipanema pop-up this month.
Hush restaurant, which has been in business for 15 years, currently operates three restaurants and is close to completing on a fourth.