Upmarket burger chain, Tootsies, has been placed into administration after its parent company, Clapham House Group, withdrew its support and funding.

The other parts of the group, namely the Gourmet Burger Kitchen and The Real Greek businesses, are unaffected by the move and will continue to trade as normal. Clapham House acquired Tootsies in May 2006 and has provided it with 'significant support' but says that "given the current economic outlook and the prolonged downturn in trading and profitability at the Tootsies business, the board believes that there is little prospect of the Tootsies business as a whole generating a profit in the near future."

Following their appointment as administrators, BDO LLP have sold 11 of the 21 units currently operated by Tootsies to Giraffe Concepts for £2.5m (US$3.9m, 2.7m euro), the sale saving around 25 full time and more than 250 part time jobs. BDO are hoping to dispose of the remaining 10 units as soon as possible. David Page, chair of Clapham House, said: "We have taken these steps with great regret, having spent considerable time researching alternative strategic options for Tootsies. We believe that this is the best course of action to protect shareholder value whilst minimising job losses."

Giraffe Concepts operates around 30 family restaurants, predominantly in London and the south east of England and including five franchises at three UK airports. The company is owned by the three original founders with additional financial backing from, amongst others, the 3i investment group and chairman, Luke Johnson.