Orchid Group sells Bel & The Dragon chain

Orchid Group has sold its Bel & The Dragon gastro pub chain to Longshot, the London-based leisure group which formely owned the Groucho Club.

Rufus Hall, Orchid's chief executive, said his group had just sold a "great business", although it was "not scalable for Orchid".

The deal, the financial details of which were kept under wraps, will be funded from resources left over from a £30m fund-raising exercise which Longshot undertook last year.

Bel & The Dragon, which numbers four pubs in Windsor, Cookham, Reading and Godalming, was created 11 years ago and eventually acquired by Ultimate Leisure in 2007, which then became Premium Bars & Restaurants - which Orchid bought last year.

Ollie Vigors, one of Longshot's founders, said that with some investment together with the group's experience in other areas of the leisure sector the Bel & The Dragon brand would be built up further.

His fellow Longshot founder and director, Joel Cadbury, said the deal would create "a strong platform to build Longshot's pub and restaurant interests".

Cadbury added the company saw considerable opportunities in the pub restaurant sector and would be on the lookout for further deals.

As well as Soho-based private members club the Groucho, Longshot owned the Vingt-Quatre - London's first 24-hour restaurant - and a London-located health club, the Third Space, before selling the businesses in July 2007.