Café Fish owner buys Livebait Manchester out of administration

By Emma Eversham

- Last updated on GMT

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Manchester's fish restaurant Livebait has been bought by Richard Muir
Manchester's fish restaurant Livebait has been bought by Richard Muir
Richard Muir, the owner of Edinburgh restaurant Café Fish, has bought Livebait in Manchester days after the restaurant’s former owner Paramount Restaurant Group went into administration.

The city-centre restaurant is the first to be acquired under Muir’s new company SBG Restaurants which he has set up with ex-Paramount executive chairman William Rollason.

Four Livebaits were left being run by administrators from Deloitte following Paramount Restaurant Group's move into administration last week. Its eight Chez Gerard sites were immediately bought by Raymond Blanc's Brasserie Bar Co.

Muir is already planning to open more restaurants at key city-centre sites under SBG Restaurants with Glasgow, Leeds and London already on the radar. The company has not yet confirmed if it will buy the other Livebait sites in Covent Garden, Waterloo and Leeds.

Staff employed at the Manchester restaurant, including general manager Ellen O’Donnell, will remain, while former Yachts of Seabourn executive chef de cuisine Dave Spanner will join to oversee the kitchen and launch a new menu.

The site will also be refurbished next spring.

Muir, who worked for Gary Rhodes and caterer Sodexo before opening Cafe Fish in Edinburgh, said: “We know the Manchester restaurant scene very well having been involved in business within the city for many years – Livebait is a great restaurant in a fabulous location and we look forward to re-energising the offer and providing something a little more funky."

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