What's in a name? Quite a bit according to Living Ventures (LV) founder Tim Bacon.
Mr Bacon has just sold the Living Room chain to Ultimate Leisure for £28m. The deal leaves him and business partner Jeremy Roberts with Est Est Est and Blackhouse Group.
It also neatly sidesteps the option shareholder The Restaurant Group (TRG) would have had in 2008 to buy LV outright.
However, although the direct relationship with Bacon and TRG has now come to a natural conclusion this hasn't registered in the minds of the great British public quite yet it would seem.
Apparently Bacon has been suffering the fate of a thousand paper cuts, receiving some 40 letters of mostly complaint a week, mostly about Est Est Est.
Well damn well sort it out you might think.
But here's the rub. The letters mounting up on his desk are from pissed-off travellers that have used Est Est Est at one of Blighty's many airports and have not been impressed.
However, unknown to Joe Public is the fact that an airport Est Est Est has nothing to do with Bacon or his team as it is run as part of TRG's concessions business.
Beware the power of the brand.
Bacon's solution? He's going to change the name of the twenty-plus high street chain to the Italian Bar and Grill (working title), which couldn't possibly be confused with another business such as a bar or possibly grill, could it?.
Ultimate Leisure snaps up Living Room chain to boost national presence>>
Living Ventures to give Est Est Est restaurants a £17m makeover>>
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