Food & Fuel sold to Brunning & Price for £15m

Food & Fuel was founded in 2006 by Karen Jones, Jo Cumming and Peter Myers, with its London-focused estate comprising sites in Richmond, Chiswick, Pimlico, Marylebone and Kensington.

Brunning & Price, which operates a mostly rural estate of 64 gastropubs under The Restaurant Group, paid £14.91m – or £15.4m after working capital and liabilities – to complete the acquisition. 

Following the sale, Jones, Cumming and Myers will continue to operate and expand Frontier, a joint venture with Ei Group.

Discussing the deal, Karen Jones – executive chairman of Food & Fuel – who recently became executive chair at Prezzo in addition to chairmanships at Hawksmoor and Mowgli, said: “We have owned and operated our pubs for more than 12 years and we love them as we love our people.

“The achievement of 12 years of like-for-like growth is due to their talent and their commitment.

“After a series of approaches over the past few years, we finally decided that the future for Food & Fuel was best secured under the umbrella of a larger and well-regarded company that shares our values.

“That company is Brunning & Price. We look forward to watching Food & Fuel flourish as part of their estate. It remains for me to say a heartfelt thank you to all our people for whom we feel the respect and closeness one reserves for family.

“And our very best wishes for the future to Brunning & Price whom it has been a pleasure to get to know.”

Brunning & Price managing director Mary Willcock added: “We are delighted to be coming together with Food & Fuel, whose excellent people and unique pubs have impressed us on every visit.

“It gives us an immediate strong presence in London and we are excited about the opportunities it provides”.