Webb set to open sixth Brighton site
Serial entrepreneur Martin Webb is set to open his sixth Brighton pub in September.
Webb's fifth pub — the Dyke Pub & Kitchen — will open at the start of June, just in time for the World Cup, while his sixth pub, the Portland, is on track to open at the end of September.
Webb already operates the Royal Sovereign, the Atlas, the Robin Hood — which donates all its profits to charity — and the Connaught Bar & Kitchen, which opened in November 2009.
Webb has applied for planning permission to extend the kitchen at the Dyke Pub & Kitchen, and has invested £100,000. Landlords Enterprise Inns has put in a substantial sum for the external decoration, a new heating system and toilets.
"It will be a smart gastropub with a rustic Tuscan menu. We're using Farrow & Ball paints and antique pine, and executive chef Brett Mather will be in charge of the menu," said Webb.
"The Portland is a big site, with lots of character, but it needs a little TLC in order to be the hub of the community again," said Webb. He plans to operate this Brakspear-leased pub in a similar style to Pizza Express.
The entrepreneur used to run London bar chain Medicine Group and in the 1990s founded the C-Side pub company in Brighton, along with business partner Simon Kirby. The pair sold the firm for a reported £15m in 2001.
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