Banking groups eye up Gaucho restaurants

Two banking groups are eyeing up a bid for the Gaucho restaurant chain in a move that could save more than 700 jobs.

Investec and SC Lowy, a banking group based in Hong Kong, are bidding to buy Gaucho out of administration, according to City AM.

The firms have acquired Gaucho's debt from its banking syndicate and are hopeful of purchasing the restaurant chain from administrators at Deloitte.

Gaucho and its sister restaurant chain Cau collapsed into administration in July, leading to the immediate closure of the 22 Cau restaurants and the loss of 540 jobs.

Gaucho's 16 outlets have remained open as Deloitte seeks a buyer for the business.

The administrators have said that while Cau had suffered falling sales for three years, Gaucho was still a profitable business and could well be saved from collapse.

Gaucho's chief executive Oliver Meakin has also been keen to stress that it's "business as usual" for the brand, saying in a statement that each restaurant was profitable.

Mr Meakin has even employed a new marketing director to help him reach out to customers and reassure them of Gaucho's future.

Gaucho is one of a number of consumer-facing businesses to face strain on the high street, with the likes of Prezzo, Byron and Jamie's Italian all shutting restaurants and axing hundreds of jobs this year.

Hummus Bros, a London food chain, also went into administration this summer, citing cost pressures as a reason for the collapse of the business.