Independent Cheshire based restaurant group Hickory’s Smokehouse confirm that they have received investment from Greene King, following the exit of Piper after 8 years.
The team have been operating in Chester for over 22 years, with founder Neil McDonnell opening Barlounge in 2000 followed by Upstairs At The Grill, an award-winning steakhouse restaurant 2 years later.
Their first Hickory’s restaurant was opened in 2010 in Chester on The Groves by the River Dee and have since grown to 15 restaurants across the North-West, North Wales, the Midlands, Yorkshire and Nottingham.
The investment supports their ambitious plans to bring Hickory’s to many more guests across the UK. Hickory’s founder Neil McDonnell said: ‘We are delighted to have this investment from Greene King which enables us to bring Hickory’s to lots more guests and will provide our teams with fantastic opportunities for growth and development.”.
Hickory’s will continue to be run by the existing management team, led by Managing Director John Welsh and will remain based at its HQ in Chester. There are no changes for
Barlounge and
Upstairs At The Grill which will be run independently by Jason Bligh and his teams led by Jack Brightwell & Richard Parr, as they currently are.