Premium Bars bids assessed by end of August

Premium Bars and Restaurant (PBR) administrator BDO Stoy Hayward has stated that bids for parts of the business will be assessed by the end of the month.

Dermot Power, joint administrator of PBR, said: "There has been serious interest in the business, with plenty of people running the rule over the numbers.

"We are very comfortable trading it and would expect to be in a position to assess bids by the end of this month."

A number of trade parties and individuals have requested information about the company's assets, which include the Living Room chain.

The Reuben brothers, who own a 32.5 per cent stake in the business, which operates the trendy Living Room and Prohibition Bar & Grill sites, had a bid rejected by PBR's lenders earlier this month, prompting its fall into administration.

But they have said they may acquire some of the assets if PBR's administrators decide to break up the chain.

Living Room founder Tim Bacon, who sold the chain to PBR for £28m in 2007, is also understood to be running the slide rule over the business.