BRADFORD'S PEC NETS CONTRACT TO FIT OUT EUROPE'S FIRST BUBBA GUMP FRANCHISE

Contracting, manufacturing and shopfitting company PEC is working with Bubba Gump Shrimp Co's European franchisee to transform the former Planet Hollywood in the London Trocadero into the UK's first Forrest Gump themed restaurant.

The £1.85m contract involves clearing, refurbishing and fitting out the 12,000 sq ft first floor restaurant and 1,200 sq ft ground floor shop at the entertainment complex in Piccadilly Circus. PEC is working closely with project manager Paul Brown and the franchisee, Mubarak Al Hassawi Restaurant Development (UK) Ltd, to create a UK compatible specification from the original US concept designs. Work is expected to be completed in April 2014.

PEC chairman Balbir Panesar, said: "The hotly anticipated European arrival of this hugely successful chain is a high profile contract and we are proud to be working closely with the project manager and Mubarak Al Hassawi, to create a destination restaurant that will live up to its international reputation."

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co, which was set up in 1996 and has 33 global outlets, was dreamed up by Viacom, owner of Paramount Pictures — distributor of the 1994 movie. It is named after the film's characters Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue and Forrest Gump. The iconic American brand is now owned by restaurants group, Landry.

ENDS
 
Photo caption: PEC commercial director Suki Panesar, PEC project manager Steve Gunn and PEC managing director Sohan Panesar at the London Trocadero site of the new Bubba Gump Shrimp Co restaurant. 

Notes for Editors

PEC: From its beginnings in 1977, PEC has grown from a sole operation specialising in electrical contracts into one of Yorkshire's leading companies offering commercial fit-out, refurbishment, bespoke joinery manufacture and project management to UK and European clients in the public and private sectors. PEC's 100-strong team is based at purpose-built headquarters in Bradford, with a fully equipped 35,000 sq ft bespoke joinery manufacturing facility. The company also has an office in London's Mayfair. Long-standing clients include Magnet, Homebase, Kwik-Fit, Morrisons, Bupa, Q Park, Saint-Gobain, Momentum Worldwide, Principles, Majestic Wine, Crown Paints, Jewsons, Aagrah Restaurants and NHS Trusts. For further information, visit www.p-e-c.co.uk.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co is a privately held company headquartered in San Clemente, California. Its first location was opened in Monterey, California in 1996. The company's restaurant & market captures the charm and American spirit that made Paramount Pictures' "Forrest Gump" a smash hit. The restaurant combines quality seafood in a casual and fun family atmosphere, just the way Forrest and his "best good friend" Bubba would have done it. Today, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co remains the first and only theme restaurant chain based on a motion picture. Bubba Gump Shrimp Co has restaurants primarily in tourist-oriented highly desirable locations around the globe including: the US, Mexico, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Indonesia. http://www.bubbagump.com/assets/pdf/bg_press_kit.pdf

Media contact: Helen Kitchen, Xpand Marketing 07870 213974helen@xpandmarketing.co.uk