Beds & Bars plans to open six sites in America

09-Apr-2012 - Last updated on 11-Mar-2017 at 18:11 GMT

Beds & Bars, the pub-meets-hostel operator, is planning to open six sites in America over the next three to five years and could eventually float or sell the US business, according to managing director Keith Knowles.

Knowles said Beds & Bars is in an “advanced” stage of securing £100m of funding for a launch in America via a joint venture. “We are in discussions with two American companies and two British companies,” he said.
Beds & Bars has also appointed Ellie Frost, who helped rollout high-profile chef Jamie Oliver’s restaurant business overseas, as special projects director to assist its US venture, as well as forthcoming openings in Paris and Barcelona.
Knowles said he’ll be visiting America in two weeks time to look at sites, with the company targeting six cities: New York, Washington, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston. “It will take us three to five years to get that lot done,” he said.
When asked about long terms plans for the US business, Knowles said: “We could float it, we could sell it. These are the options are looking at.”
Beds & Bars’ next opening will be a St Christopher’s Inn near the Plaza de Catalunya in Barcelona, its first in Spain, this summer. This will be followed by another St Christopher’s site near the Gare du Nord in Paris next March.
Turnover for the 21-strong company, which is also looking at opportunities to open sites in China, increased 5% to £26.07m for the year to 26 March 2011.