Restaurant chain Byron Burger has been bought by Niyamo Capital, an investment firm founded by Gen Z entrepreneur Akshat Tibrewala.
The sale has rescued the burger chain from a third collapse, after its owner, Tristar Foods Ltd, filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator with the courts on 10 September.
It is understood that Tibrewala has taken a majority stake in the business, having invested around £2.5m. Private equity firm Calveton, which operates Tristar Foods, will hold a minority stake, The Times reported.
Tibrewala, 21, told the newspaper he would look to “rebrand” the restaurant chain for “new consumer tastes and preferences, whether that be smashed [burgers] or different concepts that are relevant nowadays”.
He said that with Byron being a UK-based brand and Dubai having “a lot of British presence”, he believes Dubai is a market that will “have recognition as soon as we enter”.
Byron, which was founded in 2007, currently operates seven restaurants in the UK. It had around 65 sites in 2016, but has struggled financially in recent years.
In 2020, Famously Proper, owned by Calveton, acquired the chain in a pre-pack administration deal that led to the closure of more than half of its restaurants and 650 job losses.
This marked the third time in two years that the company had been significantly reduced.
Rising costs and lower consumer spending then led to a further nine store closures and 218 job cuts in 2023. However, 12 sites and around 365 jobs were saved at the time, and were transferred to Tristar Foods through a pre-pack administration.
Tibrewala added that ”the fundamentals of the business are good”, noting that Byron is ”still doing £11m-plus revenue every year”.
“When we looked at the numbers, we figured that with some operational efficiencies and some cost reductions, we can get this across into the green. November was a good month for us.”
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