A company which runs dozens of Las Iguanas restaurants will "simply run out of money" if a restructuring plan is not approved, the High Court has been told.
Iguanas Holdings Limited, which runs 44 Las Iguanas restaurants across the UK, is a subsidiary of The Big Table Group, which also owns chains including Frankie & Benny’s, Bella Italia, and Banana Tree. At a hearing on Wednesday, the company’s lawyers said that it has "fallen into financial difficulties" and will have "no funding to continue trading" if a restructuring plan is not approved. The hearing taking place in London was what is known as a "convening hearing", where barristers ask for a judge’s permission to convene meetings of its creditors to vote on the restructuring plan.
In written submissions, Ryan Perkins, for Iguanas Holdings, said that the scheme will wipe out debts of around £37million owed to one of its creditors and will see Big Table inject £3million into the company as part of a “turnaround strategy”.
It will also lead to reductions of some of its rents being "imposed" on landlords and the "compromise" of some debts owed to them, with Mr Perkins stating that this would leave landlords better off than if the company went into administration.
The barrister said the UK casual dining sector had suffered "substantial problems" in recent years, caused by factors including high inflation, reduced customer spending and increased taxes.
He continued that Iguanas Holdings and Big Table had "done their best to meet these problems by improving the Las Iguanas menu and customer experience, amongst other things", but that trading conditions "remain very challenging".
Mr Perkins continued that this led Iganuas Holdings to lose nearly £10million in the 2025 financial year, meaning that it "has only been able to continue trading as a result of the support provided" by Big Table.
Many of the company’s restaurants are "significantly over-rented" and prevent it from trading profitably, and 17 leases are "wholly unviable", Mr Perkins warned.
He concluded that the company’s directors would “have no choice” but to place it into administration if the plan is not approved, but said that the firm did not have any employees of its own, with staff instead employed by Big Table.
In a ruling, Mr Justice Hildyard said he was "content to approve what is proposed" and allowed the company to take the plan to creditors at meetings scheduled for May 28.
If they vote in favour of the scheme, the plan is due to return to the High Court to be rubber-stamped by a judge at a "sanction hearing" on June 5.
