River Cottage has a new owner. Which is a good thing for the Crowdcube bondholders who want their money back next July.
We have written a few pieces on Hugh Fearnley Wittingstall's empire. It has not been plain sailing. In 2015 they raised £993k via a Crowdcube bond - to bring his style of eateries and philosophy to a greater audience. We said at the time that the projections were fantasy. Since then, the number of restaurants has gone up a little and down a little more. They currently run 3 and have 3 new inhouse tearooms in well selected tourist hubs. The company filed a £1m loss last year and was £1.2m in the red.
Now the company that has used the £993k, has been bought by River Cottage Holdings - set up at the end of 2017. This is a company majority owned by Guy Baring. RCH are now the sole owners of River Cottage Stores and River Cottage Bonds plc. The latest accounts for the latter give comfort to bond holders, stating that the directors intend to be able to repay the bond principle when the time comes; even if profits wont cover this - which they wont.
It has amazed me that this brand has struggled to make it. There must have been some seriously idiotic decisions made and money wasted but hopefully, now under new control and with lessons learnt, the HFW eateries can get back into profit and promote the sort of eating life style we would all do well to adopt.
Happy peelings.
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