Nearly 100 jobs saved as bars and restaurants are sold out of administration

Almost 100 jobs have been saved by the successful sale out of administration of a number of Midlands bars and restaurants.

Town and Country Inns plc appointed business recovery and rescue specialists Begbies Traynor to handle its administration process.

The joint administrators - Gareth Prince, Joanne Hammond and Gareth Rusling - completed the sale of the business to a newly-formed company on November 2.

Town and Country's outlets included two Apres bars in Birmingham and Cheltenham, two Fleet Street Kitchens in Birmingham and Mere Green, Sutton Coldfield, and the Mechu Bar and Grill Club, on Summer Row, Birmingham.

The group employed some 115 staff in outs outlets and nine head office staff. All venues will continue to trade as normal, with the exception of Apres in Cheltenham, which is to close with the loss of 17 jobs.

Mr Prince said: "The business has been hit primarily by the long-running roadworks on Summer Row and also in Cheltenham, which has resulted in massively decreased footfall across the venues. As a result, the business had been struggling financially, but we were able to advise that administration and a subsequent sale was the best course of action. We are pleased we have been able to secure the majority of what is a long-standing leisure business."