Iguanas Holdings Limited, which runs 47 Las Iguanas restaurants across the United Kingdom, has won permission from a High Court judge to ask creditors to back a rescue plan that could save the chain from administration. Justice Hildyard approved the company’s request on May 28, setting up a vote that will decide whether the plan advances to final court sanction on 5 June.
The restructuring is aimed at a business that told the court on May 6 it had fallen into financial difficulties. Big Table Group has been funding the chain’s operating losses, but it does not intend to keep doing so, forcing the company to seek a formal creditor approval process that it hopes will avoid administration, the U.K. equivalent of U.S. bankruptcy.
The numbers show how hard the squeeze has become. The plan seeks to address £37 million owed to a single creditor, while Big Table is pledging £3 million in new funds. At the same time, the company says 44 restaurants are at risk of shutdown if the rescue fails. The plan also calls for rent reductions and compromises on landlord debts, measures that would buy time for a brand that still has dozens of locations but little room left to absorb losses.
The pressure on Las Iguanas is part of a wider industry problem. Chad Moutray said overall labor and food costs have risen 35% since the pandemic, and that insurance, taxes, utility bills and other expenses have also climbed. He said those extra costs have eaten into the bottom line. Anne McBride said restaurants have reached a tipping point with customers and that diners cannot pay any more than they already are.
That is the friction in this rescue plan: costs keep rising, but customers are not able to absorb another round of price increases. Big Table’s support has kept the chain operating so far, yet the company’s decision not to continue funding losses leaves the restaurant group depending on creditors and landlords to accept a deal. If they do, the chain gets a chance to reset. If they do not, 44 restaurants could go dark.
