Giraffe Concepts Limited
Company typeSubsidiary
GenreRestaurant (chain)
Founded1998 (1998)
FounderJuliette Joffe
Russel Joffe
Andrew Jacobs
Number of locations
17 (UK)
3 (Dubai Airport)
2 (Málaga Airport) [1]
ParentBoparan Holdings
Websitewww.giraffe.net

Giraffe is a restaurant chain headquartered in Birmingham, United Kingdom, which was founded in 1998 in Hampstead as Giraffe Restaurants by Juliette Joffe, Russel Joffe and Andrew Jacobs.[2] Giraffe was owned by its founders, with additional financial backing from private shareholders, 3i investment group and chairman Luke Johnson.

In October 2006, 3i invested £10 million in the company in a deal that valued the chain at £24 million.[3] It was announced in March 2013 that the chain was to be acquired by Tesco for £48.6m.[4] As part of the acquisition, 3i and Risk Capital Partners sold their shares in the company.[5] In June 2016, Tesco reached an agreement to sell the company to Boparan Holdings.[6]

Branches

Giraffe at Trinity Leeds (March 2013)

As of August 2022, the company has 12 outlets across the UK plus three at Dubai Airport in the United Arab Emirates and two at Malaga Airport in Spain.[1]

In September 2016, the company introduced a new brand, Giraffe World Kitchen, with its first branch in Basingstoke.[7] However, in March 2019, Boparan announced that 20 branches had been tagged for closure “to protect the company”, which had made a pre-tax loss of £10m on sales of £67m.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b "find a giraffe". Giraffe Concepts. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Privacy and Cookies Policy". www.giraffe.net. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  3. ^ Walsh, Dominic (6 October 2006). "3i to put £10m into restaurants". The Times. London. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  4. ^ "Tesco acquires award-winning restaurant group Giraffe". Tesco PLC. 13 March 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  5. ^ "Tesco buys Giraffe restaurants". BBC. 13 March 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  6. ^ "Tesco sells Giraffe restaurant chain and Turkish business". BBC News. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  7. ^ Wingett, Mark (20 September 2016). "Giraffe trials new look". Big Hospitality. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  8. ^ "Hundreds of jobs to go as Giraffe and Ed's Easy Diner become victims of casual dining crunch". telegraph.co.uk. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2019.

External links

Food chains in the United Kingdom
Tesco
Categories