Tapas Revolution sold through pre-pack administration

The business and assets of the Tapas Revolution group of restaurants have been sold through a pre-pack administration.

The company has been sold to Tapas Bidco, a new firm led by James Picton, former managing director of Tapas Revolution's parent company Spanish Restaurant Group.

Simon Renshaw and Avner Radomsky of RG Insolvency were appointed joint administrators of Spanish Restaurant Group on 5 April after the group was hit by a 300% increase in energy costs.

An administrators report filed on Companies House said: “Initial pandemic exhausted the reserves, leaving the business weak in terms of cashflow and balance sheets and has more recently been impacted by the costs of living crisis, which has seen turnover fall significantly, costs increase due to the inflation levels and the significant rise in energy pricing which has risen over 300%.”

As Spanish Restaurant Group does not operate the restaurants but owns the equity in its subsidiaries, each of which is party to their respective lease, the restaurant operations should not be impacted following the sale.

The original Tapas Revolution site opened in Westfield Shepherd's Bush in London in 2010 and was founded by Ken Sanker, Douglas Smillie and Acorn Award-winner Omar Allibhoy. The brand grew to 11 locations across the UK.

In February 2020, Tapas Revolution embarked on a joint-venture partnership with Spanish Restaurant Company, led by Picton, previously group operations director of La Tasca.

Spanish Restaurant Group acquired La Tasca in 2020 and rebranded the sites as Tapas Revolutions.

Giles Whitman also joined the company board on behalf of Mobeus Equity Partners in 2020.