Gourmet Burger Kitchen latest restaurant chain to hire restructuring experts
Gourmet Burger Kitchen has hired restructuring advisers as it falls prey to a slump in high street dining.
The Famous Brands-owned restaurant chain, which has more than 100 sites, has recruited Deloitte in a bid to secure rent reductions and cut deals with landlords.
A company voluntary arrangement (CVA), a procedure that allows companies in distress to pay off their debts over a fixed period of time, is on the menu, according to the Sunday Times.
GBK is the latest dining chain to to be hit by what has been a difficult year for the casual dining sector during which a number of high-street chains have collapsed.
Byron Burger, Jamie's Italian and Prezzo have all undergone CVAs since the start of the year helping them to shut loss-making stores and gain rent discounts.
The move follows rumours in July that GBK was under financial stress, when Famous Brands announced it was contemplating “strategic options relating to a subsidiary”. GBK's like-for-like sales fell 10.6 per cent in the 22 weeks to the end of July.
Deloitte declined to comment.