Tragus Ltd.

Tragus Holdings Ltd.
Type Private
Industry Hospitality
Founded 2002
Headquarters London, England, UK
Area served United Kingdom
Key people Giles Thorley, (Chairman)
Graham Turner, (CEO)
Products Bella Italia, Cafe Rouge, Strada
Revenue £261.9 million (2009)[1]
Operating income £42.8 million (2009)[1]
Net income £16.9 million (2009)[1]
Employees 3,800
Website www.tragusholdings.com

Tragus is a UK limited company which operates restaurants under the brands Cafe Rouge, Strada, and Bella Italia. The company is backed by the Blackstone Group private equity firm.[2]

Contents

History

Tragus holdings was formed in 2002 when Whitbread sold-off 153 failing restaurants from its Pelican and BrightReasons divisions, shortly after writing their value down by £175m. A £25m management buy-in was funded by £11m from venture capitalist speculators ECI group.[3] Within three years the gang sold the company again for £92m, dividing a £15m windfall between themselves. The chairman, discredited[4] former LSE CEO Gavin Casey, received £1.4m.[5]

"Tragus is backed by The Blackstone Group, a global private investment and advisory firm, founded in 1985. The firm has raised a total of more then [sic] $67 billion for alternative asset investing since its formation of which approximately $30 billion has been for private equity investing. The Private Equity Group is currently investing its fifth general private equity fund with commitments of $15.6 billion, and has over 60 experienced professionals with broad sector expertise.... Tragus's head office is on Eversholt Street in central London and the Company also has a training and menu development centre in Finchley, north London."[6]

Products

Tragus has over 270 sites across the country and claims to serve over 20 million meals every year. It operates the brands Café Rouge, Strada, Bella Italia and smaller Brasseries - with offerings ranging from pizza and pasta to French classics.

Minimum wage

In 2009 Tragus was the object of newspaper reports highlighting the practice of UK restaurants using customer tips to meet minimum wage laws for waiters/waitresses. The company's business model was said to depend on paying servers as little as £2.50 an hour, with the rest coming as tips.[7] The company reportedly instructed restaurant managers to pressure servers to avoid encouraging customers to give tips in cash, which would not count as part of wages, and was threatening to sack employees who failed to produce a sufficient volume of debit-card-based gratuities or were discovered (via "mystery diners") informing customers of the company's policy.[8] When the practice became unlawful on 1 October 2009, Tragus reviewed and updated its policies. They now deduct 10% from tips paid by credit or debit card.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c [1]
  2. ^ "About Tragus
  3. ^ Oliver Smiddy (2007-08-06). "Case study: Tragus satisfies hunger for returns". Financial News. http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/06-08-2007/case-study-tragus-satisfies-hunger-for-returns. Retrieved 2010-06-24. 
  4. ^ Dan Gledhill (2000-09-17). "Casey offered to quit before Exchange vote". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/casey-offered-to-quit-before-exchange-vote-699815.html. Retrieved 2010-06-24. 
  5. ^ Dominic Walsh (2005-01-19). "It's windfalls all round as Tragus sells for £92m". The Times. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article414079.ece. Retrieved 2010-06-24. 
  6. ^ http://www.tragusholdings.com/profile.asp
  7. ^ Jamie Elliott, "Tip off: waiters still paid minimum wage out of your service charge", Guardian 7 June 2009
  8. ^ Jamie Elliott, "Cafe waiters fear the axe over cash tips", Guardian, 28 June 2009
  9. ^ http://www.tragusholdings.com/tip_service.html