Regent Inns was the British parent company of
Walkabout,
Jongleurs/Bar Risa and Old Orleans chains. It went into
administration in October 2009. The part-time executive chairman was Bob Ivell.
Brands
Jongleurs is a chain of sixteen
comedy clubs in the
United Kingdom, established in 1983. It is often twinned with Bar Risa or Walkabout.
Old Orleans was a chain of 26 themed-dining bar/restaurants acquired from
Punch Taverns in summer 2006 for £26 million.
Punch Taverns press release
/ref> The brand was similar to T.G.I. Friday's
TGI Fridays (operating in the UK as FRIDAYS) is an American restaurant chain focusing on primarily American cuisine and casual dining. The restaurant's founder said the name stood for "Thank God It's Friday", although some television commercial ...
as it provided food in the styles of the American South, Creole and Cajun Cultures. Old Orleans restaurants ceased operation in late 2011.
Walkabout (or sometimes The Walkabout) is a chain of Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n themed bars operating in the UK. There are now 36 Walkabout venues in the UK. To keep with the Australian theme, most of the bar staff employed at Walkabout Inns are Australian. Walkabout Inns also serve food, with a menu offering Australian-themed foods such as kangaroo and crocodile
Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...
fillets.
Surfer's Paradise is a club operating in the same building as Walkabout, with the two parts operated as separate entities or together, normally with Walkabout playing pop music or hosting live bands and Surfer's Paradise harder dance music. An example of this, is the branch of Walkabout in Croydon town centre, Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
.
References
{{Reflist
Hotel and leisure companies of the United Kingdom