Burger bar chain gives expat New Zealanders $25m payout

Three New Zealanders have sold their chain of burger bars in England to a big restaurant company for $25 million.

Greg Driscoll, Brandon Allen and Adam Wills set up their first burger bar at Battersea, south London, in 2001, Driscoll saying, "We think Londoners will respond well to gourmet burgers".

Their fast-food chain, similar in concept to the Wisconsin Burger chain in New Zealand, caught on in London with a menu including chicken, camembert and cranberry and a Kiwiburger complete with beetroot slices.

Now they have sold the Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) to Clapham House, a restaurant group set up by British entrepreneur David Page for 10 million ($25.7 million).

Soaring sales at its three sites attracted Clapham House, which also owns The Real Greek and Bombay Bicycle Club chains of eateries.

Clapham House now planned to expand the GBK brand to another 40 sites over the next three to four years, and had poached David Sykes, former managing director of Britain's PizzaExpress, to roll out the luxury burgers, the Independent newspaper reported.

Driscoll and Allen dropped out of financial careers in London to start GBK, and Wills joined after backpacking around the world.

They were given a leg up by another New Zealander, Peter Gordon, the noted chef who pioneered a fad for Pacific Rim "fusion" cuisine.

He remains a consultant to the burger chain and the three founders - noted for their predilection for hiring other New Zealanders as staff - will stay on as directors.

The trio will share the payout - which includes $1,286,670 of shares in Clapham House and $17.75 million in cash due next April - with about 12 external shareholders who backed them when they started the chain four years ago.

Paul Campbell, chief executive of Clapham House, said: "The business has traded very well."

The payment to the three New Zealanders was based on trading during the past six months and the expectation they would exceed their targets during the second half, he said. The Independent reported that each of the three GBK sites was taking till receipts of about $51,500 a week.

Page, who built up PizzaExpress before selling it to the private-equity houses TDR Capital and Capricorn Ventures in 2003, set up Clapham House to acquire fledgling restaurant chains. The group will have 30 sites by the end of the year, including eight GBK bars.

- NZPA