Upmarket Leisure, whose portfolio includes Luciano by Gino D’Acampo in London and Gino D’Acampo-branded restaurants in Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle and Manchester, has been acquired by an unknown buyer in a deal for £5m.
According to The Sun, Upmarket Leisure had been struggling with spiralling debts and was issued with a winding up petition by HMRC in March after an attempt to sell the business fell through.
An application to appoint an administrator was made on Tuesday last week (29 April) with administrators at Begbies Traynor subsequently confirming the pre-pack sale.
“This very well-recognised group of restaurants will be able to continue, under their existing brand, and has the opportunity to thrive again,” says Dean Watson, partner at Begbies Traynor.
Documents filed to Companies House show Upmarket Leisure operated under the name Gino D’Acampo Hotels and Leisure until 2023, with D’Acampo himself stepping down as a person with significant control of the group in 2021.
Upmarket Leisure’s sale comes amid a turbulent time for D’Acampo, who back in February faced allegations of inappropriate behaviour following an ITV investigation into his TV career.
The TV chef and restaurateur was accused of being intimidating and making highly sexualised remarks by a number of people who worked with him, allegations that D’Acampo has ‘firmly’ denied.
It was subsequently reported that ITV had sacked D’Acampo.
Elsewhere, the Italian chef’s London-based My Pasta Bar brand was wound up by administrators last year having fallen into liquidation in January 2022 with debts of £5m.