Man at the top: Jeremy King inside the Wolseley
(Picture: Daniel Hambury/Stella Pictures Ltd)Last Friday’s ousting of Jeremy King and Chris Corbin from a business both founded by and named for them is news that has left tempers flared and faces flushed in circles sympathetic to London’s restaurant scene. But it is worth remembering this likely won’t be the end of Wolseley, or the end of Mr King and Mr Corbin.
With Corbin having quietly stepped back from day-to-day duties a decade or so ago, the narrative at present is following his business partner. Those familiar with what’s gone on might want to skip ahead a little but for those in the dark, the plot goes so: after a protracted and lately rather public battle, Corbin & King’s major shareholder Minor International has reportedly paid £60million for the group and its restaurants, outbidding efforts from Mr King (and supporters) himself. It followed Minor, who previously owned 74 per cent of the group, pushing Corbin & King into administration in January. King and Minor had not been seeing eye to eye for some time — King accused Minor of all sorts of treachery (read more here) while Minor said the pair had fallen out over “proposals to recapitalise the company”.
