Karen Jones is back

Former Spirit Group chief executive Karen Jones, who was last week awarded a CBE in the Birthday Honours for her services to the hospitality industry, says she plans to take her new pub venture "slowly at first".

Ms Jones, who exited Spirit Group at the beginning of the year after Punch Taverns bought the company for £2.7bn, has returned to the industry with a new entity, which she calls Food & Fuel.

Backed by private equity and her own money - she is understood to have trousered millions from her selling her stake in Spirit to Punch - Ms Jones has teamed up with ex-Spirit colleagues Jo Cumming and Peter Myers, as well as Roger Myers, with whom she co-founded the Café Rouge restaurant chain, to set up the new pub company.

The company's five pubs, all of which are leasehold, are located in London. Ms Jones says they will become gastropub venues "with an individual feel".

"We want them to become fabulous local venues where local people can meet for good quality food and drink.

"They all need a bit of refurbishment, but only the Birdcage [in Chiswick] needs what I would describe as a dramatic overhaul," she added.

Ms Jones said she and her team have completed on three sites, with two to follow by the end of July.

"The philosophy [of the company] will be quality food, great service and a wonderful atmosphere," Ms Jones told thepublican.com.