Fri 11th Nov 2022 - Byron owner appoints advisors to review its options Byron owner appoints advisors to review its options: Famously Proper, the owner of better burger brand Byron, has appointed advisors as it reviews its options for the business. The company, which is backed by investment vehicle Calveton UK and operates the Byron and Mother Clucker brands, is understood to be working with advisory firm Interpath on its options that could include a further restructure of the better burger brand business and sale. Byron, which currently operates 21 restaurants across the UK, including five in London, was acquired via pre-pack administration by investment vehicle Calveton under newly formed company Famously Proper for circa £4m in summer 2020. It followed this with the acquisition of Mother Clucker, the London-based, buttermilk-fried chicken concept, last spring, for an undisclosed sum. At the time, Mother Clucker operated sites in Flat Iron Square in London Bridge, Truman’s Brewery in Brick Lane, BackYard Cinema in Wandsworth and at Stansted airport in partnership with transport hub food service specialist SSP, all of which have since closed. Famously Proper, which is led by Gavin Cox, opened its first bricks and mortar site under the Mother Clucker brand in London’s Islington, in April. Last year, it rolled out the fried chicken concept as a delivery brand to 18 sites across the UK. It is thought that Mother Clucker is not part of the current process. In July this year, Cox told The Guardian he had been approached by smaller businesses looking to sell up as they were finding things “really, really challenging”. Talking about the cost pressures the hospitality sector is under, Cox said: “There is cost inflation across the board. Cooking oil prices have doubled year on year, electricity has doubled and the price of proteins is up 40%. The underlying inflation rate of 10% really doesn’t show how much businesses are trying to absorb.” Calveton is backed by Sandeep Vyas and Haseeb Aziz and was previously owned by Style Group Brands, which included the Jacques Vert brand. Vyas was formerly director of international operations at Yum! Brands. In July 2020, Byron closed 31 of its then 51 sites as part of the pre-pack administration process and sale to Calveton.