Piper, a specialist investor in consumer brands including the hospitality sector, has made a significant minority investment in Flat Iron, the steak restaurant group. Founded by Charlie Carroll in 2012 Flat Iron developed from a pop up above a London pub.
It proved such a success that a permanent site was opened later that year in Beak Street in Soho. Carroll was inspired to start the business because he felt the steak market was served either by good quality but very expensive high-end restaurants or poor quality, mass market offers. Flat Iron was created to challenge traditional perceptions of steak, offering customers a modern take on the traditional steak house – no fuss, no frills, just delicious high quality steak for £10.
Currently Flat Iron has four London sites in Soho, Tottenham Court Road, Covent Garden and Shoreditch with two more due to open later this year in Golborne Road and King’s Cross. It has more than 200 employees.
The £10m investment sees early backers exit the business and provides the company with the necessary funding to build the team, focus on delivering outstanding quality and value and enable further units to open in and around London to meet customer demand. Founder Carroll retains a controlling stake of the business and will remain as MD.
This is the first investment from Piper’s recently raised sixth fund and follows on from its successful exit from Loungers café-bars.
Charlie Carroll said: ‘I wanted to work with a partner who shared my vision for Flat Iron and my ambition to build restaurants that focus on being better and different at every stage of the guest experience. Piper’s passion for Flat Iron has been evident from the outset, they have taken great care to build a relationship with me and to really understand what we are trying to do. This, coupled with their deep understanding of the sector and ability to add significant value through their networks, knowledge and in-house expertise, led me to select them as my partner.’
An example of a consistently long queues outside Flat Iron, a picture as they say is worth…Peter Kemp-Welch, partner at Piper, said: ‘The consistently long queues outside Flat Iron are testimony to Charlie’s passion for providing outstanding quality steak at great value, offering customers an “everyday occasion” – special enough for visits to be planned but quick, convenient and affordable enough to attract spontaneous as well as regular visits. We are looking forward to working with Charlie to continue growing Flat Iron into a beacon brand of excellence.’
We look forward to further following the growth of this remarkable casual dining success story