In response to the article in today's Daily Mirror:

Self-employment at Brasserie Bar Co

• Brasserie Bar Co has just nine out of 600 employees who are self employed. They are an exception to the rule because of their nationality (Romanian). Under European law, Romanians working in the UK are mandated to work on a self-employed basis and then apply for a national insurance number once they have a job.
• Taking on staff on a contracted basis is a matter of last resort for Brasserie Bar Co and a route which we take only because there are simply not enough people coming forward to fill the job opportunities which are available in our company.
• We do not employ anyone on a contracted basis for longer than six months. It is not in our interests to do so. It is much better for us that they become part of our company and benefit from the training and career opportunities which we are proud to offer all of our staff. As soon as a self-employed person has a national insurance number we transfer them onto our payroll. This has happened already with one of our Romanian employees who has been with us for six months and the rest will follow as soon as they receive a national insurance number.
• Unfortunately, in its article today, the Daily Mirror has chosen to ignore many of these facts about self-employment at Brasserie Bar Co. Our focus is to employ enough of the right people in quality working roles to deliver great service to our customers.

Former Loch Fyne management and current Brasserie Blanc team to roll out new pub-based business

Brasserie Bar Co, the company and team behind Brasserie Blanc, announces the launch of a retail hospitality concept targeting pub and bar sites in the UK. The new offering, known as the White Brasserie Company, is based on the Brasserie Blanc business, taking the best aspects of a French brasserie – bustling environments, quality of food, drink and service – and blending them in a more relaxed, local pub setting.

Two White Brasserie Company sites have already been secured to showcase the new venture. The Queen's Head in Weybridge, Surrey will open this month and the King's Head in Teddington, Middlesex is expected to open in September. Brasserie Bar Co. plans to trial these two sites and then expand the concept nationwide.

Jeremy Hardie, Chairman of Brasserie Bar Co, said:

“What we now want to do with the White Brasserie Company is to take the best elements of Brasserie Blanc and bring them in to the pub environment. We have a settled, proven and experienced team of people to realise our vision of brasserie style and quality in popular settings, serving a local market.”

Experienced team, proven management
Brasserie Bar Co. successfully raised £3.3m new funding from existing investors in early 2010 to grow Brasserie Blanc and develop the White Brasserie Company. The team behind Brasserie Bar Co. has a proven track record in retail hospitality investments and operations, and include former Loch Fyne Restaurants directors Jeremy Hardie, Mark Derry and Ian Glyn. Mark Derry is tasked with the strategic development of Brasserie Bar Co, working closely with co-director and experienced restaurateur, John Lederer, who has overall management responsibility across both brasserie businesses.

Alongside the roll out of the White Brasserie Company, and after the recent success of its eighth restaurant opening in the City of London, Brasserie Blanc will continue to expand in select provincial locations. Plans are to operate up to 20 sites by 2015. Existing restaurants are located in Bristol, Cheltenham, City of London, Leeds, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Portsmouth and Winchester.