Who owns Honest Burgers?

A London private equity firm, with the founders still on board. Honest Burgers is controlled by Active Partners, formerly Active Private Equity, which bought half the business in 2015. The three founders, Tom Barton, Philip Eeles and Dorian Waite, still own shares and are still directors, and more than three thousand customers own small, non-voting stakes from a 2023 crowdfunding round.

Honest Burgers is not on the stock market and has not been sold since 2015.

What does the register show?

The restaurants are run by Honest Burgers Ltd, company number 07490829, incorporated on 12 January 2011 and based in Southwark, London. Barton and Eeles have been its directors since that day and Waite since May 2011.

Its persons-with-significant-control register names its parent, Honest Group Ltd, company 09327508, with 75% or more. Honest Group's own register names Pacific Shelf 1803 Limited, company 09347631, with more than half but less than three-quarters of the shares and votes. Pacific Shelf 1803 is registered at Active Partners' Chelsea address, and its directors include Spencer Skinner, whom Restaurant Online described in 2015 as Active's co-founder.

The chain goes up two more steps, through Actev Limited to Actev II Limited, company 09633288, whose register names two people, Gavyn Davies and Baroness Susan Jane Nye. Honest Group's own accounts describe Actev II as "the ultimate parent company" but add that "in the opinion of the directors there is no ultimate controlling party". The two records say different things, and we report both as filed.

Do the founders still own Honest Burgers?

Part of it. The last shareholder list Honest Group filed, made up to 2 February 2024, shows all three founders holding voting shares alongside Pacific Shelf 1803. By our count of the voting ordinary shares on that list, Active's company holds about 61% of the votes and the three founders about 28% between them: Waite and Eeles about 10% each and Barton about 8%. That count is ours, not the company's, and the voting rights of some smaller share classes are not fully stated.

The same list shows the 2023 crowdfunding round. Honest Burgers raised £2.9 million from 3,456 backers on Crowdcube, against a target of £1 million, The Caterer reported; the shares those backers hold carry no vote.

How did Honest Burgers come to be owned this way?

The founders opened their first restaurant in Brixton Village in 2011. In January 2015, when the chain had nine restaurants, Active Private Equity took "a 50 per cent stake" for about £7 million, Restaurant Online reported. The firm has backed it since; it now calls itself Active Partners.

In July 2025 the group refinanced its debt with a five-year loan from OakNorth Bank and new money from its existing shareholders. That paid for the biggest step in its history: in September 2025 Honest Burgers bought 12 restaurants from the Gourmet Burger Kitchen chain, owned by Boparan Restaurant Group, taking it from 39 sites to more than 50, The Caterer reported. Its chair, Thomas Kelly, said the aim was to "quadruple the size of our business over the next five years". Matt Brandon, previously finance director, became chief executive in July 2025.

How big is Honest Burgers?

Honest Group's accounts for the 52 weeks to 26 January 2025 show turnover of £59.9 million, up from £56.4 million, and like-for-like sales up 10%. It made an operating profit of £903,000, after an operating loss of £2.5 million the year before, but a loss of £2.4 million for the year once interest was paid. It employed an average of 836 people, and its net debt, most of it preference shares held by its owners, was £45 million. Accounts for the year to January 2026, the first to include the GBK restaurants, are due by the end of October 2026.

It now runs more than 50 restaurants, after converting the former GBK sites to Honest Burgers.

Is Honest Burgers independent?

Not by our verified independent badge, which marks a locally and privately owned business rather than a chain, franchise or private-equity estate. Honest Burgers is a chain of more than 50 restaurants controlled by a private equity firm, even though its founders still own part of it.

The useful label is restaurant chain, private equity-backed, founders still shareholders. That is a different picture from a chain bought outright by investors, but it is still a chain. For another restaurant group that started at Brixton Market, see who owns Franco Manca.

For independent restaurants owned by the people who run them, see our restaurants in Lincoln and restaurants in Hackney E8.

Questions people ask

Who owns Honest Burgers?

Active Partners, a London private equity firm, controls it through a company called Pacific Shelf 1803 Limited. The founders, Tom Barton, Philip Eeles and Dorian Waite, still own a minority of the shares.

Did Honest Burgers buy GBK?

Not the whole chain. In September 2025 it bought 12 Gourmet Burger Kitchen restaurants from Boparan Restaurant Group and turned them into Honest Burgers.

Is Honest Burgers owned by its customers?

In a small way. More than 3,000 people bought shares through Crowdcube in 2023, but those shares carry no vote.

Is Honest Burgers a franchise?

No. We found no franchised restaurants; the company runs its own.

Last checked 16 October 2026. This article uses the Companies House records, persons-with-significant-control registers, officers lists and filing histories of Honest Burgers Ltd (company 07490829), Honest Group Ltd (09327508), Pacific Shelf 1803 Limited (09347631), Actev Limited (08615746) and Actev II Limited (09633288); Honest Group's confirmation statements of 2 February 2024 and 2 February 2026 and its accounts for the 52 weeks to 26 January 2025; and reports by Restaurant Online (19 January 2015 and 14 January 2026), The Caterer (11 October 2023 and 30 September 2025) and OakNorth Bank (July 2025). What is not claimed: Active Partners' exact stake today, since the latest shareholder list is from February 2024; who else invests through the Actev companies; why the accounts and the register disagree about a controlling party; the size of the OakNorth loan or of the 2025 shareholder funding; and the exact number of restaurants open today, since the company's website could not be read. If you spot something that needs correcting, email Highstreett and we will review it.