Roger Myers (born 1947) is the co-founder of Punch Taverns, one of the United Kingdom's largest chains of public houses.
Roger Myers | |
|---|---|
| Born | Roger Myers 28 April 1947 East Ham, England |
| Education | Quintin Kynaston Grammar School |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Title | Founder & Chairman, Punch Taverns |
| Term | 1997–present |
| Spouse | Lee Myers |
Early life
editBorn in East Ham and educated at Quintin Kynaston Grammar School, Roger Myers joined Goodman Myers Smith, a firm of accountants in 1964.[1]
Career
editIn 1966 he became a Partner in the firm which helped artists such as the Beatles minimise their tax.[1] In 1977, working with Tony Visconti, he formed the Good Earth Productions record label, producing records for artists including David Bowie and Marc Bolan.[1]
Then the following year he broke with Visconti and, working with Alan Lubin, established Peppermint Park, a cocktail bar in Covent Garden, as well as the Coconut Grove and Fatso's Pasta Joint restaurants.[1] They then sold the cocktail bar and the restaurants to Courage who employed them to set up the Dome Brasserie chain.[1] Myers then acquired the cocktail bar, the restaurants and the Dome and floated them as Theme Holdings: the business was subsequently sold to Leisure Investments plc.[1]
In 1989 he established Café Rouge[1] and adding other themed restaurants created the Pelican Group.[2] He sold the business to Whitbread in July 1996.[3] In 1997, together with business partner Hugh Osmond, he founded Punch Taverns.[1] In 1999 Punch purchased Inn Business Group plc, and later Allied Domecq's pubs for £3 billion, beating a rival bid from Whitbread.[4][5] After the deal, Punch spun off its managed pubs into a separate division, Punch Retail, which was later renamed Spirit Group.[6]
In 2002 Punch demerged the Spirit Group and then floated itself on the London Stock Exchange. Punch went on to become Britain's second largest pub landlord.[7]
In 2005, he moved to St Lucia “to drink rum and do nothing”.[8] Then he purchased The Jalousie Plantation Hotel and completed a multimillion dollar transition that saw the property re-branded and re-launched as Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Resort on 30 November 2012, under the continued management of the Viceroy Hotel Group. Viceroy has managed the property since 2008.[9]
In 2016, The Times and Sunday Times Travel Awards recognized Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Hotel as 'The Best Long-haul Hotel In The World'.[10]
In 2019, Myers sold Sugar Beach to Misland Capital.[11]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h Restaurateur who rides his fortune: Roger Myers - The seemingly happy-go-lucky head of the Cafe Rouge chain tells William Kay about his ambitions to be number one Independent, 17 July 1994
- ^ Roger Myers Catersearch, 7 July 1994
- ^ Roger Myers: in July, The Pelican Group was acquired by Whitbread Leisure Management, 1996
- ^ "Punch Taverns plc -- Company History". Retrieved 31 May 2011.
- ^ Mr Punch aims at Allied Domecq Independent, 22 June 1999
- ^ "Business Big Shot: Hugh Osmond". timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
- ^ Clark, Andrew (15 April 2002). "Punch float to raise £2.2bn". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ "Move over Mustique". Financial Times. 12 October 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ "Sugar Beach, Saint Lucia | Traveller Made". www.travellermade.com. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ "Success at News UK's annual Travel Awards | News UK". www.news.co.uk. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ "Saint Lucia's Sugar Beach, a Viceroy Resort Sold". Caribbean Journal. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.