Giraffe World Kitchen is a restaurant chain headquartered in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, which was founded in 1998 in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

as Giraffe Restaurants by Juliette Joffe, Russel Joffe and Andrew Jacobs. Giraffe was owned by its founders, with additional financial backing from private shareholders, 3i investment group and chairman Luke Johnson. In October 2006, 3i invested £10 million in the company in a deal that valued the chain at £24 million. It was announced in March 2013 that the chain was to be acquired by

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

for £48.6m. As part of the acquisition, 3i and

Risk Capital Partners Risk Capital Partners LLP is a London-based private equity firm, co-founded in 2001 by Ben Redmond and Luke Johnson. The firm invests in numerous sectors, including leisure, retail, media, healthcare, IT services, financial services and support ...

sold their shares in the company. In June 2016, Tesco reached an agreement to sell the company to Boparan Holdings.

Branches

As of August 2022, the company has 12 outlets across the UK plus three at Dubai Airport in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

and two at Malaga Airport in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. In September 2016, the company introduced a new brand, Giraffe World Kitchen, with its first branch in

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...

. However, in March 2019, Boparan announced that 20 branches had been tagged for closure “to protect the company”, which had made a pre-tax loss of £10m on sales of £67m.

References

External links

* * {{Tesco , state=expanded 1998 establishments in the United Kingdom 3i Group companies Catering and food service companies of the United Kingdom Restaurant chains in the United Kingdom Restaurants established in 1998 Restaurant franchises Tesco