3Sixty terminates sale talks
Restaurant group 3Sixty has revealed that it has terminated discussions over a potential sale.
It emerged in April this year that the company, which owns the Ego and Rocket brands, had appointed Coffer Corporate to act as an adviser regarding the future of the business.
But as 3Sixty updated on its results for the financial year ended March 2013, it said that discussions had terminated because they "did not reflect current performance". Shareholders in the business include chief executive James Horler, and restaurant entrepreneur Luke Johnson.
Turnover for the group at the end of the financial year was just under £13.4m, with pre-tax profit of just under £2.4m.
Trading for the six months to the end of September 2013 saw like-for-like sales ahead of last year by 12%.
Meanwhile, 3Sixty also announced the appointment of Adrian Abbey as its chief operating officer.
Commenting on the business, Horler said: "We have had a very strong start to the year, particularly with the Ego brand. Our development in quality, value, social media and people is now paying dividends and we are seeing strong demand. Ego now has more than 30,000 Twitter followers and 80,000 Ego Club members, which for eight restaurants makes it one of the country's leading brands.
"There are many opportunities for expansion, across the UK for both brands and we have a strong balance sheet with significant net cash resources which enables us to do so without raising equity or bank debt.
"Adrian Abbey and I have worked together for many years and I am delighted that he will now take a more active role across the group."
Luke Johnson, chairman, added: "The business is in a good position from which to expand and Adrian will bring depth and experience in order to achieve that."
3Sixty Restaurants runs eight Ego restaurants in the Midlands and North West and four Rocket restaurants, three in Central London and one in Nottingham.
