Famous Brands to review its future in burger subsidiary GBK in UK

DURBAN – Famous Brands, Africa’s largest branded food services franchisor, said on Thursday that its board was still reviewing the options available to its business subsidiary, Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) in the UK.

Famous Brands, owner of brands such as Steers, Mugg & Bean, Wimpy and Debonairs Pizza, with signature brands including Tasha, Mythos and Lupa Osteria, said in a trading update yesterday that GBK had generated nearly half the revenue in July from a year ago, due to the Covid-19 lockdown as it had forecast.

In a voluntary market update on July 24 it was forecast that last month, due to lockdown restrictions, GBK would generate 49 percent of the revenue earned in the prior comparable period last year.

“It is pleasing to report that this was accomplished; this creditable performance is a tribute to the resilience and resourcefulness of our teams,” it said yesterday.

Famous Brands is trading under a cautionary note after it informed its shareholders last month that it was not going to provide any further financial assistance to GBK.