Companies: BGO   

Belgo, of mussels and chips fame, reported a ten-fold jump in pre-tax profits to £4.04m, on turnover of £27.1m (£4.14m). Though like-for-like sales at the two Belgo outlets rose 5%, much of this increase reflected the way the restaurant group has steamed ahead in the acquisitions game over the past year. Le Caprice, The Ivy, Daphne's and The Collection are just a taste of the up-market purchases made by the group chaired by Luke Johnson, formerly of PizzaExpress. Expansion across the channel and the rolling-out of the Bierodrome concept are also planned for this year. However, a cloud was cast by rumours of a DTI investigation into insider-dealing in share trading in Belgo, though it is believed that the top management are not under suspicion.