Exclusive – BGF acquires minority stake in Blacklock: Chophouse group Blacklock has sold a stake in its business to the Business Growth Fund (BGF). Filings at Companies House confirm the investment firm, which backs the likes of Mission Mars, Arc Inspirations and Giggling Squid, has acquired a minority stake in the six-strong, Gordon Ker-led business. Blacklock, which counts serial sector investor Paul Campbell as a shareholder, was founded by Ker in London’s Soho in 2015. It followed this with openings in the City (2017), Shoreditch (2018) and Covent Garden (2022) and Canary Wharf (2023). The company, which became B Corp certified last October and recently was placed once again in the Best Companies’ Top 100 Companies to Work, made its regional debut in Manchester, in September, with an opening in the grade II-listed Freetrade Exchange building at 37 Peter Street. The new 115-seat restaurant has taken the lower ground space of Harvester House, which dates to the Victorian era and was formerly home to a textile merchant. Propel understands that Blacklock worked with advisors BDO on the transaction. 

Multi-brand franchisee becomes UK master franchisee for Fluffy Fluffy: Multi-brand franchisee Aadil Asghar has become the UK master franchisee for Canadian pancake brand Fluffy Fluffy. The Toronto-based brand, which launched in the UK in Manchester in 2022, last week secured a site in Newcastle for its north east debut, which will be its 11thsite here. Fluffy Fluffy has already this year opened its first stores in London and Wales – in the Southside shopping centre in Wandsworth and at 109 Queen Street in Cardiff. Asghar, meanwhile, who has been a franchisee with Chaiiwala since 2019, Cupp since 2021 and Fluffy Fluffy since 2022, is now taking on the master franchise of the latter. “On 17 August, we launched store number eight for Fluffy Fluffy UK in Southside Wandsworth, the first store in London, and a week ago today we launched store number nine, in Cardiff city centre in Wales,” he said. “The overwhelming support and response we’ve had in both of these locations is a testament to the locations and the audiences we cater for. I would like to congratulate Bilal Saleem on entering the food and beverage world and diving straight into the deep end with an impressively high octane launch in Cardiff and really putting the brand on the map in the south west. I’d also actually like to take this moment to formally announce our achievement of securing the master rights to Fluffy Fluffy UK, and now being in the driving seat of serving happiness and success one pancake at a time.” Earlier this year, Asghar opened new Chaiiwala stores in Uxbridge and Hayes, both in west London, to take his portfolio with the brand to 12. Fluffy Fluffy, Cupp and Chaiiwala all feature in the Propel UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, the next edition of which will be sent to Premium Club members on Wednesday, 11 December. The database is updated every two months, and the latest version features 280 businesses. Asghar Group will feature in the next Propel UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database. That database is also updated every two months, and the latest version features 180 businesses. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription.

Fuller’s – impact of Budget will drive businesses ‘to the wall’, cost of a pint will increase by more than 10p: Michael Turner, chair of Fuller’s, has warned that the chancellor’s national insurance reforms will inflict “particular pain” on the hospitality sector and “drive many businesses to the wall”. Turner called Rachel Reeves’ raid on employers a “direct attack on those labour-intensive industries that are the lifeblood of our economy, while leaving the large City institutions, that can afford to pay their share, almost completely untouched”. He said: “The chancellor’s Budget gave me cause to reflect that, over the years, we have seen our wonderful industry plundered for an ever-increasing amount of tax, and once again, history has repeated itself. While other sectors replace human interaction with automated systems, hospitality continues to provide an introduction to the working environment, not just for future publicans and hoteliers, but also the business leaders and, indeed, politicians of tomorrow. The changes to employers’ national insurance, coming on top of the cumulative impact of other wage and business rate increases, will cause particular pain and has been brought about by the chancellor’s inadvisable promise not to increase taxes on individuals. The chancellor’s actions are a direct attack on those labour-intensive industries that are the lifeblood of our economy, while leaving the large City institutions that can afford to pay their share, almost completely untouched. The unintended consequences of these actions will be to drive inflation higher, put pressure on wages, and will drive many businesses to the wall. I hope the government will reflect on its decisions and appreciate the incredible contribution hospitality, farming and small businesses make to so much more than just the Treasury coffers.” At the same time, Fuller’s chief executive Simon Emeny said the combination of national insurance and minimum wage changes would cost the business an additional £8m and that the increase across the industry for a pint “will be more than 10p”. He said: “We won’t be able to afford to just take the £8m hit to the bottom line, so there will be price increases, and it will be inflationary.” He told The Sun: “We will see prices go up, which is counter-productive for a government that had said it was pro-growth. It will lead businesses to review their investment plans.” When asked about analyst estimates that the cost of a pint will go up between 5p and 40p, Emeny said: “It won’t be as low as 5p. The increase across the industry will be more than 10p.”