Nader Haghighi steps down as chief executive of the Parisa Group

Related tags Private equity

Nader Haghighi, chief executive of the Parisa Group, has "stepped aside" from the company to concentrate on his desire to buy more bars.Parisa...

Nader Haghighi, chief executive of the Parisa Group, has "stepped aside" from the company to concentrate on his desire to buy more bars.

Parisa operates the Parisa café bar chain as well as the Persian bar-restaurant concept, Persia. It also owns 400 off-licences including the Booze Buster and Right Choice chains.

A spokesman for Parisa Group said: "Mr Haghighi has stepped aside from the company to focus on his desire to buy the on-trade side of the business and look at other on-trade opportunities in the market.

"He remains a major shareholder in the Parisa Group and is committed to seeing the company develop. He has also made himself available to provide advice for the board."

Earlier this year the chain of Parisa café bars was put up for sale by its venture capital owners CVC Capital Partners and Bridge point Capital. Mr Haghighi was thought to be interested in seeking new backers to buy the bars.

Based in Warrington, Cheshire, the Parisa Group has 20 café bar sites in towns and cities across the UK and has about 30 more sites in the pipeline.

The Parisa café bars, which are named after Mr Haghighi's daughter, were initially intended to have their own on-site micro breweries producing ales and lager, but the plan was shelved because of quality-consistency worries. The ales are now brewed under contract by Rudgate Brewery in York.

The bars offer more than 250 wines which are priced to undercut other bars and restaurants. They also operate as off-licences, allowing customers to take bottles home.