Since 2007 the Press Up hospitality group has been a key and highly visible player in Dublin’s social scene with super-stylish restaurants, popular nightclubs and bars and a cinema.
Founded by old schoolfriends Matt Ryan and Paddy McKillen jnr it changed the face of dining out in the capital, growing fast by developing its own restaurants and buying existing, successful operations including Wagamama, Elephant and Castle and Wowburger. The group also built a large property portfolio.
But its borrowings were onerous and in a debt-for-equity restructuring, Cheyne Capital, a London-based finance house that was owed €45 million took control of the business. Cheyne is injecting €20 million in fresh capital into the group.
For 18 venues, it’s business as usual. But three high-profile brands that operate several venues – Wowburger, Elephant and Castle and Wagamama were quickly placed in receivership with the announcement this week that the long-established and hugely popular Wagamama chain is to close with immediate effect.
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So what happened? And what will happen now to the rest of the group’s venues and its 935 employees? Irish Times business editor Ciarán Hancock explains.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.
