Restaurant Group Acquires Near-Namesake in Kingly Court

Wright and Bell bar and restaurant group has acquired Whyte and Brown restaurant on Kingly Court in Soho.

Wright and Bell has acquired the free-range chicken restaurant with a view to installing chef Richard Falk (The Dairy, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, D&D.) and “evolving” the food offering, in spite of claims that the restaurant has been “trading strongly” up to now. Accounts filed to Companies House reveal an annual loss to September 2017 of £100,238. Somewhat unconventionally, a portion of the capital was provided by ThinCats, a small-to-medium enterprise (SME) loan company.

Wright and Bell is parent-owned by Imbiba, the restaurant and leisure investment group with interests in Neil Rankin’s Temper group, and Canova and Martello Halls in Brixton and Hackney. The latter is soon to open a third site in Brixton called Cattivo, while Rankin’s Temper recently converted its City curry menu to the meat-oriented offer from Soho, citing poor lunch trade; a similar change has been made to Temper Covent Garden, replacing Massachusetts-style pizzas with meat flatbreads.

Sarah Clark, managing director of Wright and Bell said: “Kingly Court is an extremely popular and vibrant destination in central London and presents us with an excellent growth opportunity. We are excited to be acquiring The White and Brown industry is such a thriving location. We look forward to evolving the offer and have a progressive vision of how this can sit within our portfolio and the current market place.”

Eater has contacted Whyte and Brown for comment on the acquisition.