The Big Table Group

Tragus Group

Tragus Holdings was formed in 2002[3][4] when Whitbread sold-off 153 failing restaurants from its Pelican and BrightReasons divisions, shortly after writing their value down by £147m.[5] At the time, the two restaurant divisions comprised the Café Rouge, Bella Pasta, Mamma Amalfi, Abbaye, Leadenhall Wine Bar and Oriel brands.

A £25m[6] management buy-in by Tragus Holdings was funded by £11m from venture capitalist speculators ECI Partners.[7] Tragus Holdings was led by chief executive Finlay Scott, formerly head of the Aroma Café chain and Whitecross Dental Care. The team included Gavin Williams, managing director of Bella Pasta, and Harry Morley, former finance director of Whitecross Dental Care.

In January 2005, Tragus' directors sold the company to Legal & General for £90m-£95m.[8][9] The sale made them around £18m profit. The chairman, discredited former LSE CEO Gavin Casey, received £2m.[5] Legal & General installed a new management team which included appointing new chief executive Graham Turner (formerly managing director of the Unique Pub Company).[10]

In December 2006, Tragus was bought by Blackstone Group for £267m. By that time, the business had grown to 163 restaurants.[11] In September 2006 it had also announced plans for a new restaurant concept - Huxley's Bar & Kitchen – to open in the new Heathrow Terminal 5 in March 2008.[12]

The group expanded rapidly in 2007 with the purchase of Ma Potters restaurant company in February for £14.15m,[13] and the Strada chain - which included five Belgo and Bierodrome restaurants - in May for £140m.[14] In July, Tragus signed a deal with Center Parcs to operate several Bella Italia and Café Rouge restaurants in the leisure village operator's UK sites.[15]

In April 2012 it was announced that Graham Turner would step down as Tragus chief executive. John Derkach, formerly managing director of the Costa Coffee chain took up the position in August 2012.[16]

In early 2014, Blackstone's stake in Tragus was acquired by US investor Apollo Global Management,[17] and, in June 2014, Apollo sought to shed or restructure some of Tragus Group's rent obligations at Cafe Rouge and Bella Italia, and to sell its Strada chain.[18] In September 2014, Tragus sold Strada to Sun Capital Partners.[19]

Casual Dining Group

In March 2015, Tragus Holdings rebranded as Casual Dining Group (CDG).[20] In July 2015, CDG acquired Las Iguanas[21] and later went on to purchase La Tasca.[22][23] CDG also opened concessions including Bella Italia, Café Rouge and Las Iguanas restaurants at Centre Parcs villages,[24] and in UK airports, including Gatwick, Heathrow, Jersey and Inverness.[25]

However, efforts to close loss-making outlets and stem group losses continued through to 2018.[26][27] Also in 2018, Apollo sold its stake in the group to KKR and Pemberton Capital Advisors (the two had provided loan finance since 2015).[28] Some La Tasca restaurants were converted to other brands, and the remaining four La Tasca restaurants were sold in February 2020.[29] On 18 May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, CDG announced that it was working with advisors on next steps for the business as a prudent measure to protect the company whilst planning for the future.[30] Media reports suggested the group was preparing to place one of its three core brands into administration as part of a financial restructuring of the business.[31][28] On 29 May, CDG was reportedly in talks with "multiple parties", including other restaurant groups and private equity firms, over a sale of the business, potentially saving 6,000 jobs.[32]

On 2 July 2020, it was announced that the company had been placed into administration, with 91 outlets set to close, with the loss of 1,900 jobs, leaving the group with 159 operational restaurants.[2] They appointed AlixPartners to deal with the administration and said that the 91 outlets would be permanently shut as no buyers were offering to acquire them.[33]

The Big Table

On 3 August 2020, it was announced that Casual Dining Group, including the Las Iguanas, Bella Italia and Café Rouge restaurants, had been acquired out of administration by private equity firm Epiris and rebranded as The Big Table, led by the existing management team under CEO James Spragg.[34]

In 2023, The Big Table bought most of The Restaurant Group's loss-making assets for £7.5 million.[35][36]