Urban set for four openings
Urban & Country Leisure, the managed multiple pub group led by Ross Sanders, has four new openings lined up for 2010.
The first new opening will be the Mother Huff Cap Inn in Great Orme, near Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire, a former Punch Taverns site that has been bought by a private individual for around £300,000.
Urban & Country Leisure is to invest £850,000 on a refurbishment programme for the site, which will be renamed the Greedy Pig.
The company is also set to buy its first freehold in partnership with Downing Corporate Finance — it's a site believed to be in Warwickshire, which will reopen in July with a steakhouse and grill offer.
In addition Urban & Country is close to signing up to take on its first Charles Wells pub, which is understood to be in Leamington Spa.
The fourth pub is understood to be a mid-sized hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon. The freehold site is set to be bought by a consortium of investors and leased to Urban & Country.
The group recently announced it had secured £10m-worth of funding from three investors, including Bridgehouse Capital, and plans to more than double in size by adding 15 pubs over the next two years.
Sanders founded the company two years ago after previously working for nightclub company Luminar opening Chicago Rock Cafes, as well as spending time working for Spirit in its private equity days. Three weeks ago, he opened a new boutique nightclub in London called Diu.
Sanders raised £2m in funding for the venture — which will be a complete separate entity from UCL. The club is located in Greek Street, Soho.
The operator is also actively looking at sites in New York for a sister venue.
