Robert Rayne, chairman of the Edwardian-style London restaurant chain operator Richoux, has gobbled up £170,000 in shares in the company.
He and his partner Benita Refson took just over 1.1m shares at 15.3p a share, taking Rayne's holding in the company to nearly 8m shares or about 12% of the company.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
The purchase comes soon after Richoux reported a move into profit in 2010 after a period of significant expansion. Pre-tax profit totalled £0.51m, from a loss of £1.52m in 2009, while revenue grew slightly from £5.02m to £5.84m.
The group currently owns 13 trading restaurants under the Richoux, Zippers and Dean's Diner brands. Zippers is described as a stylish and contemporary restaurant while Dean's has a 1960s American diner theme. The chief executive of Richoux, Salvatore Dilberto, was managing director of the ASK restaurant chain from 1994 to 2004.
