Red & Blue Restaurants expands beyond Liverpool with Cheshire acquisition

Red & Blue Restaurants has expanded beyond Liverpool for the first time with the acquisition of Libby's Bread & Wine in Marple Bridge, Cheshire.

R&B Restaurants, co-owned by Jonathan Poole and Paddy Smith, also owns Salt House Tapas, Hanover Street Social, Bacaro and Bouchon, and group turnover is forecast to be more than £8.5m in 2022.

Smith said: "We're really pleased to add Libby's as a going concern to the group. It's near to where I live so I know it well and have always loved going there. We're looking forward to building on the strong reputation Libby's has enjoyed down the years and adding our experience of three decades in running successful, independent hospitality businesses just like Libby's.

Poole said: "It has obviously been a difficult time and inflationary pressures look set to continue for a while yet. Fortunately, demand remains strong and we're profitable so adding Libby's to the business is exciting."

The news comes seven months after the group opened French bistro Bouchon in Liverpool, bringing its total number of restaurants to five with plans to expand further.

Smith said the business was "very interested in attractive sites in good trading locations", and Poole added that he believed the Bacaro brand "would be equally popular elsewhere".

The company has also promoted Caryn Philip to operations director, having been a director at R&B Restaurants since 2010.

"We're now serving more than 7,000 guests per week across the group and from our base in Liverpool, Caryn is a perfect fit for the role. She knows our culture inside out and has been a very important part of our team in creating what we have today," said Poole.

Matt Walsh will continue in his role as group executive chef and director, while Luke Creedon has been promoted from head chef to executive chef.