TCG splashes cash on 20 sites

The pub operator, which was taken off the market last year and still has about eight or nine of its 75-strong estate on the market, is to spend between £15,000 and £170,000 on targeted investments.

It is also introducing two new food menus and reviewing all of its drinks menus.

Chief operating officer Nigel Wright told M&C: “We haven’t got hundreds of thousands to spend [per site] but we are really maximising it by targeted investments, and that’s our plan going forward.”

The first investment, completed in December, was a c.£20,000 spend in the downstairs cocktail bar at Henry’s in London’s Covent Garden. The bar was altered to allow more members of staff to serve.

The first major investment, of c.£150,000, was at the Sefton Arms in St Helens, Lancashire, which has a new dancefloor, sound system, LED lighting and big screens.

The Greenhouse in Bristol has reopened following a c.£25,000 refurbishment that is targeting a “more aspirational younger professional market”.

The next two “sparkle” investments of c.£20,000 each will be at central London sites Comedy, near Leicester Square, and the Duke of Wellington in Soho. Some “fairly major” investments are due at three sites that will receive an updated version of the King’s Feast food format.

Wright said: “We’ve got between eight and 12 smaller targeted ‘sparkles’.”