Fazenda restaurant group bought in pre-pack deal

A substantial part of City District, which trades as the Fazenda Rodizio Bar & Grill and sister brand Picanha by Fazenda, has been acquired in a pre-pack sale by Southern Wind Group.

The new company, headed up by City District’s former chief executive Terence Langley and managing director Tomás Maunier, will continue to trade as Fazenda and will keep the Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh and Liverpool Fazenda sites, retaining 243 jobs.

The restaurants are set to resume operations in May.

The acquisition also includes the recently launched e-commerce arm of the business ‘Fazenda at Home’, enabling customers to buy prepare-at-home meal kits.

However, Fazenda Birmingham and Picanha Chester are not included in the deal and 69 staff will be made redundant.

“The pandemic has meant that we have had to regroup and review to navigate the current climate as best we can and put the business in good stead in order to come back strong,” says chief executive of Southern Wind Group Terence Langley.

“We have high hopes that Fazenda will find the right place in Birmingham to operate in the near future, and we can continue on the growth path planned pre-COVID."

The groups says rent negotiations and a “significantly reduced cash flow” led to the close of the Birmingham and Chester restaurants.

Huddersfield-based Fazenda restaurant brand was founded in 2010. Its restaurants offer a continuous tableside service of grilled meats with the use of a double-sided card to control the flow of food to the customer.

The business suffered from the impact of prolonged lockdowns and restrictions caused by COVID-19, resulting in what joint administrator Begbies Traynor led to a significant build-up of landlord and HMRC arrears that could no longer be serviced without additional funding.

“After more than 10 years of healthy trading, the Fazenda restaurant chain became yet another casualty of the impact of the pandemic on the hospitality sector,” says joint administrator Julian Pitts.

“With the UK undergoing multiple lockdowns, together with social distancing measures and increased working from home, the restaurant trade has faced one of its toughest periods ever.

“It is good news for employees, customers and suppliers that most of the popular Fazenda eateries will re-open for business once the current restrictions are lifted. We wish them well for the future.”

Southern Wind Group says it will honour any gift vouchers previously issued by the Fazenda and Picanha restaurants.