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Press

“Deliverance, now with annual revenues running at Pounds 10m a year, up 40% in the past year, is London's largest provider of home cooked meals, a fast-growing sector. These days, dinner-party hosts and hostesses, particularly for prestige occasions, do not want to spend their time in the kitchen. Firms like Deliverance fill the gap.

It is one of half-a-dozen companies that Davies's own private-equity business, Active, has significant stakes in, with investments totalling Pounds 25m. With his partners Spencer Skinner and Bryan Vaniman, Active specialises in investing in small to mid-market companies.
Others include Soho House, the club and hotel chain run by Nick Jones that started out from a single club in London's Soho. There are now Soho House offshoots in Chiswick and Notting Hill and there will soon be one in Shoreditch.

The firm also owns Babington House, the chic Somerset country house hotel, and Cecconi's restaurant in London's Mayfair. The New York Soho House is said to be the city's trendiest club and there are plans for new openings in Miami and Los Angeles.
Davies is excited by watching these firms grow, as he is by Leon, a chain of healthy fast-food restaurants co-founded by Henry Dimbleby, of the broadcasting dynasty. The aim is to have 300 Leon restaurants, spread across Britain.

"I feel good that we are helping these small businesses grow into big businesses," he said.”
Sunday Times, June 2007

 

“In reality, private equity splits into three broad categories; venture capital, mid-market and headline-grabbing leveraged buyouts (see panel). In the first two instances, the investment is based around growth in the business, with marketing at its core. Active Private Equity, for example, bought Soho House and food-delivery service Deliverance with growth in mind, as did Bain Capital when it acquired Samsonite.

This change in investment strategy has resulted in private equity firms hiring staff with different skills. 'Private-equity houses used to be home to ex-bankers and accountants whose comfort zone was financial,' says Spencer Skinner, a founding partner of Active Private Equity. 'Now strategy consultants and former managers to whom organic growth is not an alien concept are joining in their droves.' He adds that 'the companies we acquire can expect to benefit from the management expertise that many private-equity houses now have to offer'. “
Marketing, April 2007

 

Comments from Doug Richard on Leon:

"I have had the good fortune to eat at Leon, and it was immediately apparent that they were different. The food seemed home-made, almost artisanal, in its nature and the ambience is clearly designed to reflect that ethos. What was remarkable was that the food was served at the pace of a fast-food restaurant.

"John and Henry have, I suspect, hit upon a valuable opportunity. The trick, which they have apparently mastered, is to create an efficient production system that somehow retains the values and qualities of freshly prepared, home-cooked food while permitting them to profitably scale the operation.

"The duo's success in raising the latter financing to build the central kitchen suggests that they are focused on just that. Assuming that they continue to focus on building a business model that scales while retaining the clear differentiation should serve them well as they expand.
"Their ability to transform from a fast lunch spot to a casual dinner eatery should let them drive the marginal revenue per site above the lunch-only facilities that are bounded to high-congestion areas, giving them the flexibility to open more sites.

"More interestingly, if they can demonstrate sufficient success within the UK, they will have a very convincing story for international expansion in the long term. This is especially true in the US, where new food concepts are always welcome."

Doug Richard, who has appeared in the past two series of Dragons' Den on BBC Two, is the founder and chairman of Library House, a consultancy that discovers and monitors innovative new companies.
Times, April 2006

 

“Tucked behind the main drag of Shoreditch in a hush-hush, discreetly marked converted teabag factory is the new East-End outpost of members' club Soho House (there's also a Chiswick House serving west London). It’s stylish but comfy Tom Dixon-designed interior, complete with bowling alley, luxuriant lounges and chi-chi rooftop pool and bar has been reeling in members thick and fast. Now buzzing with media movers and shakers, wealthy locals and the odd celebrity (we spotted David Schwimmer on our visit), it will no doubt be increasing CEO Nick Jones's fortunes; the annual turnover of Soho House alone is £36 million.

We have to admit that, bar a few opening hiccups such as temperamental lifts and slow service, the overall appeal of the place is pretty big. Even active-types are catered for with the posh bowling alley and smart gym, which it's tempting to bypass altogether in favour of the very reasonably priced treatments at in-house spa Cowshed.

Alas, membership is hard to come by (at least two members have to recommend you before you even bother filling out a form) and the book's closed until September.”
Time Out, July 2007