Novus aiming to double its estate

The company is currently in negotiations for “three or four sites” and plans to open its fourth Jewel Champagne and cocktail bar in London’s West End in January.

Third-party funding could be sought for the expansion, Richards said.

Novus, which operates mainly in London, has also announced the appointment of Gala Coral founder John Kelly as chairman.
Richards said: “He has invested in lots of growth businesses, which for us is interesting because we have ambitions to get going in terms of acquisitions.

“Over a four-year period we aim to double the size of the estate.

“That’s our ambition.” Richards said Novus would take an “opportunistic” ap-proach to swallowing up struggling business.

“There are a lot of operators on their knees,” Richards said.

However, he stressed: “We will continue to buy individual sites.”

Novus is to open its first relaunched Balls Brothers site in Lime Street, City of London, next week, after a £240,000 revamp.
It will be called the Lime Street Exchange.

The aim is to widen the current customer base of City professionals to all those working nearby.

New furniture and fittings have been designed to improve customer comfort while maintaining a flexibility that allows the site to accommodate parties and group bookings.

Two more sites have been earmarked for similar refurbishments — in Mayfair and Bishopsgate.

Richards said Novus’s expansion will mostly involve its Lewis & Clark and Jewel brands — the third Jewel site in St Paul’s opened last week.