The Vurger Co. closes Canary Wharf site as founders acquire brand in pre-pack sale

In a business update, Rachel Hugh and Neil Potts, who founded The Vurger Co. as a street food brand back in 2016, confirmed that the group’s site in London’s Canary Wharf has closed as part of a ‘substantial restructuring’ of the business that has seen them acquire the brand under a new company with the support of both new and existing investors.

The Vurger Co.’s sites in Brighton, Manchester and London’s Shoreditch will continue to trade, with the pair adding that they have retained almost all of the remaining jobs across the business.

“Despite enduring the physical and mental exhaustion that came with it, we are proud to still be here, fighting,” the founders said in a joint statement.

Describing the past few years as ‘a painful journey’ for the vegan burger brand, Hugh and Potts said the impact of the pandemic had been compounded by inflationary cost pressures driven by Brexit and the war in Ukraine.

“We asked existing investors for help, and unfortunately most were unable to assist and the availability of new investment for small hospitality businesses remains severely restricted,” they said.

“Facing all of these challenges for an extended period of time, it certainly has taken its toll on our mental wellbeing. After the last in a long line of investor disappointments, we had to be up front with our teams in early 2023 that we were seeking a distressed sale. Our goal was to ensure that our people still had jobs during this difficult cost of living crisis in the UK.”

Describing the acquisition as the beginning of a ‘new era’ for the company, Hugh and Potts said they would now be focusing on introducing new items to the menu and creating a fresh start.