Slimmed-down Bill’s set to expand again

The owner of the Bill’s restaurant group has said he wants to open more restaurants. Richard Caring, who also owns the Ivy Collection and Birley Group, said the business was “back on track” after stringent cost-cutting and an estate review. Bill’s ditched 12 underperforming restaurants last year, which were sublet or surrendered, leaving it with 46. Tom James, appointed managing director of Bill’s last year, said the brand was “now on a firm footing for future growth and focused expansion”. In the six months to the end of June, Bill’s delivered like-for-like sales from continuing operations up 4.5% at £45.3m, while underlying earnings swung from a loss of £100,000 to a profit of £2.45m. At its peak Bill’s had more than 80 restaurants. The Times (£)