Restaurants & Cafes
The restaurants & cafes sector in the UK is fast-moving, competitive and highly regulated. With an in-depth expertise and knowledge across all areas of this diverse sector, Teacher Stern helps its clients achieve their commercial objectives in this challenging business environment.
We offer a full range of legal services operating within the small to mid-market hospitality industry. Our team has a particular specialisation in the restaurants, pubs and cafes sector and have been advising clients within this sector for many years.
Our dedicated team draws on the expertise of various practice areas including Corporate, Real Estate, Intellectual Property, Tax, Banking & Finance, Employment, Immigration, Dispute Resolution and Insolvency to provide a prompt, cost-effective service.
We know how important it is for clients in the hospitality and leisure sector to have lawyers who understand their business and the issues facing them. We have the experience, expertise, skill and resources to provide a one-stop shop for owners, operators, investors and developers, providing advice in all areas that the restaurant and hospitality sectors require.
Our clients range from individuals and start-up companies to large established international restaurant and coffee chains. We act for owners, operators, franchisees and investors alike. We regularly advise clients on matters relating to:
- development, construction and letting of sites;
- negotiation of leases
- attaining local authority licences;
- securing finance and investment for individuals and companies in the sector;
- the financing, buying and selling of restaurants, cafes and pubs;
- franchising arrangements;
- negotiation of commercial contracts with suppliers and other service providers;
- employment and Immigration;
- intellectual property, trademarks, defamation and brand management;
- joint ventures, shareholder agreements & partnerships; and
- litigation including health & safety, licencing, property and employment issues.
Whether you wish to start a restaurant, lease a property, structure a franchise or expansion programme, secure finance, or deal with a commercial dispute with a supplier, we can provide an innovative and cost effective legal solution for you.
We have an impressive array of restaurateur clients including restaurant chains, sandwich bars and well known bars and cafes such as Boost Juice Bars, Burger & Lobster, Goodmans, Beast, Abokado, Babbo, Ed’s Easy Diner, Fish Works, Galvins, Tortilla, Tapas Revolution, Artisserie, Lola’s Cupcakes, Fleet St Pantry, Dolcezza and many more.
Representative work
Examples of our restaurants & cafes work include:
- Advised the shareholders of a substantial restaurant chain in connection with the disposal of a 33% interest in their business to a private equity investment fund (business value in excess of £90m).
- Advised the founders and owners of Bread Holdings Limited (a high end chain of London coffee shops t/a Gail’s Artisan Bakery) on the sale, earn-out and rollover of the owners’ differing interests in the business to Risk Capital Partners (Enterprise value, £23.4m).
- Advised Abokado in connection with a significant equity investment by private equity firm Kings Park Capital.
- Advised the Italian Restaurant, Babo, in connection with a significant private equity investment.
Advised Poncho No 8 in connection with a large private equity investment by a well-known name in the hospitability sector. - Advised a private equity investor in connection with a significant investment in a new Korean restaurant established by a celebrity chef.
- Advised a consortium of private investors in connection with the acquisition of a significant shareholding interest in Babaji Pide, a Turkish food restaurant established by renowned restaurateur Alan Yau.
- Advised numerous restaurant chains, coffee houses and juice bars in relation to the letting of commercial properties in the UK.
- Advised on the negotiating of a Master Licence Agreement/Franchise Elements for a well-known chain of restaurants.
Key contacts:
Biography
As head of the firm’s corporate and commercial practice, David’s broad transactional experience includes acquisitions, disposals, take-overs and mergers, asset sales/purchases, joint ventures and company restructuring. He also advises clients on a range of corporate and commercial matters, including company/partnership formation, partnership/shareholders agreements and employment issues.
David has particular experience in the field of sport, acting amongst others for prospective purchasers of Premiership and Football League clubs in takeovers. He is also at the forefront of the development in England of the investment in and transfer of the economic rights of sportsmen and women.
For property investor clients, he has particular expertise in the disposal and acquisition of corporate and similar structures which assist in mitigating stamp duty land tax.
David was listed as a ‘leading individual’ in the Legal 500 2020 rankings. He was also listed as a recommended lawyer in the 2024 rankings.
Representative Experience
David has experience:
- Acting for investors in the economic rights of football players playing in the Premier League and the top divisions in other European Countries as well as in South America. Over the years, David has been involved in providing advice connected with the transfers, economic rights participation and/or playing rights of various Premier League and foreign based players including Carlos Tevez, Javier Mascherano, Jo, Gonzalo Higuain, Luis Fabiano and Heurelho Gomes to name but a few. More recently David has provided advice in relation to the following players: Paulhino (Tottenham) Willian (Chelsea), Oscar (Chelsea) and Carlos Tevez (Juventus).
- Advising on a £430 million acquisition of a mixture of offshore and onshore companies owning 180 petrol stations and advising on the sale thereof three years later.
- Acting on a series joint ventures for a leading UK celebrity magazine and newspaper publisher with a combined value in excess of £280m.
- Acting for the prospective purchasers in their takeover of a Premier League Football Club.
- Advising on the £166 million sale of a group of companies with an industrial portfolio.
- Acting on the acquisition and financing of 545 public houses, worth £163 million.
- Advising on the £25 million sale to a UK plc of a leading UK independent internet service provider.
- Advising the founders and owners of a high end chain of London coffee shops on the sale, earn out and rollover of the owners’ differing interests in the business to a well known industry leading private equity firm.
- Advising the owners of a mining public relations agency on the sale of the worldwide operations to a UK quoted company.
Testimonials
‘David Salisbury is extremely personable, has an acute commercial sense and instils every confidence that he will provide sound reasoned advice with his clients best interests and not there to score points with the other side.’
Legal 500
Year qualified
Solicitor, 1992
Career History
Partner, Teacher Stern
