Flat Iron appoints advisers amid record sales

Steakhouse chain Flat Iron has reportedly appointed advisers after hitting record sales in its latest set of financial results.

The Times confirmed the appointment of boutique adviser Houlihan Lokey, which has been brought in to review the restaurant group’s strategic options. These are “understood to include third-party investment or a possible sale of the business”, according to the paper.

The report said Flat Iron’s most recent set of accounts showed sales had risen 38% to £49.6m in the 12 months to the end of August.

In 2017, private equity firm Piper took a £10m stake in the affordable steakhouse chain.

Flat Iron was founded in 2012 as a pop-up above a London pub by Charlie Carroll and opened its first permanent site later that year in Beak Street in Soho. For a time it sold high quality steak for £10, which has now gone up to £14.

The group operates 16 restaurants across the UK, predominantly in London but with regional sites in Cambridge, Manchester and Leeds.

Houlihan Lokey declined to comment further.