Little Chef brings in Parker Hobart for consumer work

The agency’s role will be to provide consumer PR and marketing support as the business approaches the key summer trading period.

The agency said it was supporting Little Chef as it ‘aims to return to former glories’.

The move comes as the business restructures under the leadership of recently appointed chairman Graham Sims and the continued ownership of RCapital. Little Chef now operates 95 sites across the country.

In January, Little Chef announced that it would have to close 67 outlets and make between 500 and 600 job cuts, because it was making a loss. The firm said the jobs being cut were a mix of full and part-time positions around the UK.

The group went into administration in 2007, after which the majority of its assets were bought by current owner, private investment business RCapital.

In 2008, several of its branches were given an overhaul by celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal for a reality TV show. The company has also rolled out its ‘new concept’ model to its other branches.

Sims said: ‘This appointment is part of a much bigger plan to return Little Chef to where it rightly deserves to be as a brand and as a business.

‘We wanted to work with a boutique agency that genuinely understood the collective goal and that was also prepared to go the extra mile. We do recognise after all that there is plenty to do.’

Parker Hobart MD Sarah Harding added: ‘We fully understand its recent history and we’re pleased to be working with a new management team with impressive credentials in this specific sector as well as proud to be working with a brand that has rightly earned its place as a British institution.’

This article was first published on prweek.com