Tyrone Courtman and Nicholas Edwards of Cooper Parry have been appointed joint administrators to Fat Cat Café Bars Ltd and Fat Cat Restaurants Ltd.

The companies, whose head office is in Derby, operate a chain of 11 high quality bars and gastropubs across the country including outlets in Nottingham, Leicester, Derby and Stoke, as well as the Bow Wharf Pub and Dining Room in London.

The administrators have said there are likely to be redundancies among the 200 staff currently employed, although there had already been significant interest from buyers who wanted to continue the bars as a going concern.

Tyrone Courtman, head of restructuring at Cooper Parry, said: 'The companies have been adversely affected by poor trading at a few of their outlets. The administration affords the companies the opportunity of restructuring its business whilst continuing to trade.'