Wildwood owner in talks with acquisition targets spanning European and Asian cuisine

The restaurant group behind the Wildwood and Dim T casual dining brands has confirmed it is in “positive discussions” with several potential acquisition targets.

Last August, Bow Street Group, which rebranded from Tasty last year, announced plans to make between four and six acquisitions within three years.

Executive chairman David Page, the former PizzaExpress boss who joined the company last year after it completed a £9.25m fundraise, told The Caterer that the brands Bow Street Group was looking at buying were “very varied” and included a small Portuguese tapas chain and a North London café business.

He now says the targets span “European and Asian cuisine”.

The group said it will update the market on the progress of these negotiations in due course.

The company reported that trading stabilised in the financial year ending 28 December 2025, with results forecast to be in line with current market expectations.

It had a successful four weeks in the run up to Christmas, with some restaurants experiencing record trading. Group revenue for the four weeks ended 28 December 2025 rose by more than 1.3% on a like-for-like basis.

Last year the Bow Street Group completed a restructuring plan after closing 16 restaurants in 2024 off the back of falling sales.

The current estate has a mixture of long leases and short/very short leases, with the group stating that each restaurant will be judged on its merits and performance. It has exited a lease at Gerrards Cross for a “marginally profitable” restaurant, as it would have required an outlay in excess of £150,000 to refurbish.

The group also reviewed its estate following last year’s fundraising, and more than 280 work streams were set up to improve performance in all areas of the business, the benefits of which the firm expects to realise in the coming year.

Refurbishments of an initial six restaurants are underway, while the group will trial a new menu design in February; and new dishes are being launched across the estate. The investments and new menus aim to help the group adapt to the increases in National Minimum Wage and Business Rates from April 2026.

The early trading performance at refurbished restaurants such as York, Ely and Billericay has been “encouraging”.

Page said: “2025 was an important year for the group as we completed a fundraise that will enable Bow Street to execute a revised strategy to create shareholder value based on improving the performance of the estate and delivering acquisitions of exciting and scalable restaurant brands.

“During recent months we have conducted a thorough review of the group’s operations and have identified a number of areas for improvement. We have already started to implement some of these improvements and were pleased to see an uplift in trading in the run up to Christmas. Special mention should go to the Lincoln and Maidstone Wildwood restaurants and the Winchester Dim T site, where exceptionally large numbers of customers were served.”

Bow Street Group runs 28 Wildwood restaurants and four Dim T sites across the UK.