![]() | |
Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Genre | Restaurant (chain) |
Founded | 1998 |
Founder | Juliette Joffe Russel Joffe Andrew Jacobs |
Number of locations | 17 (UK) 3 (Dubai Airport) 2 (Málaga Airport) [1] |
Parent | Boparan Holdings |
Website | www |
Giraffe World Kitchen is a restaurant chain headquartered in Birmingham, United Kingdom, which was founded in 1998 in Hampstead as Giraffe Restaurants by Juliette Joffe, Russel Joffe and Andrew Jacobs. [2] Giraffe was owned by its founders, with additional financial backing from private shareholders, 3i investment group and chairman Luke Johnson.
In October 2006, 3i invested £10 million in the company in a deal that valued the chain at £24 million. [3] It was announced in March 2013 that the chain was to be acquired by Tesco for £48.6m. [4] As part of the acquisition, 3i and Risk Capital Partners sold their shares in the company. [5] In June 2016, Tesco reached an agreement to sell the company to Boparan Holdings. [6]
As of August 2022, the company has 12 outlets across the UK plus three at Dubai Airport in the United Arab Emirates and two at Malaga Airport in Spain. [1]
In September 2016, the company introduced a new brand, Giraffe World Kitchen, with its first branch in Basingstoke. [7] However, in March 2019, Boparan announced that 20 branches had been tagged for closure “to protect the company”, which had made a pre-tax loss of £10m on sales of £67m. [8]