Imbiba Partnership plans new Darwin & Wallace concept

Imbiba Partnership, the investment company behind Drake & Morgan, plans to launch a new bar and restaurant concept called Darwin & Wallace with the first funds raised through its recently launched Enterprise Investment Scheme, M&C Report understands.

Darwin & Wallace, which will be operated separately from Drake & Morgan, will feature smaller sites at between 5,000sq ft to 7,000sq ft and target locations in central London and more “village” areas such as Hampstead, Chiswick, Notting Hill and Shoreditch.

The group launched a new £10m fund-raising scheme backed by Enterprise Private Equity last month, as it looks to invest in further bar and restaurant opportunities across central London.

The new fund will look to invest up to £2m each into a portfolio of five bar and restaurant companies, which trade from leasehold sites in central London.

The new move by Imbiba, which previously invested in the Lewis & Clarke business, comes after it exited from its remaining pub businesses across the country, including Newport Pub Company.

The group, led by Simon Wheeler, John Connell and Mark Brumby, aims to open up to 15 new sites over the next five years if the £10m is raised.

Imbiba launched the Drake & Morgan chain in September 2008. It currently operates five sites in central London and hopes to add further venues to its portfolio this year, with units in Holborn and King’s Cross thought to be under consideration.