Giraffe and Ed's Easy Diner owner reports £17.2m pre-tax loss amid closures and challenging conditions

Casual-dining restaurant group Giraffe has reported a £17.2m pre-tax loss brought about by store closures and challenging market conditions.

The parent company to Giraffe and Ed’s Easy Diner also saw an 8% fall in annual turnover to £61.7m for the year ended 30 December 2018 from £67.1m the previous year.

According to documents filed at Companies House, Giraffe Concepts continued to invest in its brands during 2018 to enhance its customers’ experiences and increase operation efficiencies.

But in March 2019, Boparan Restaurant Group, which owns Giraffe Concepts, saw its company voluntary arrangement (CVA) for the Giraffe and Ed’s Easy Diner brands approved.

This meant that 27 sites, more than a third of the 70-site portfolio, closed, with rent reductions agreed in relation to another 13.

The annual report said the closures have driven site asset impairments of £6.2m (2017: £2.5m) and intangible asset impairments of £2.8m (2017: nil).

Giraffe Concepts opened two outlets of franchised US brand Slim Chickens in 2018, in London’s Marylebone and Cardiff in the period.

Since then, the company has converted the original Ed’s Easy Diner site in Soho into a Slim Chickens, with more restaurants planned for Birmingham and London’s Brunswick Centre.