Draft House secures sixth site and eyes new openings

27-May-2013 - Last updated on 28-May-2013 at 08:04 GMT

London-based Draft House will be up to six sites next month

Draft House, the London-based craft beer concept founded by Charlie McVeigh, plans to accelerate its opening programme next year after announcing its latest acquisition in the City.

The company, which also announced the appointment of its first operations director, has secured a former Novus Leisure site on Seething Lane, EC4, which is to be converted to the sixth Draft House and open at the end of June.

The site is located across the Thames from its Tower Bridge site. “We were interested to look across the river and then this came up and we jumped on it,” McVeigh told M&C Report.

“It has the same combination of city workers and tourists [as Tower Bridge]. If it goes well we’d like to have more in the City. The City seems to work well for us; City workers seem to love what we do.”

In terms of future expansion, McVeigh said: “We did two last year. I’m hoping to do two this year and pick up the pace to three to four the following year. We would like to get to 10 by the end of 2014.”

At this point the company, which is chaired by Luke Johnson, may look outside the capital, McVeigh said. “If something came up that’s not too far, or easy to get to, we would consider it, definitely. It’s not part of the plan at the moment.”

The company’s operations director is Richard Peachment, formerly senior area manager at JD Wetherspoon who has also worked at TGI Friday’s and Ed’s Easy Diner.

McVeigh said: “When Richard walked in I was immediately struck by his obsession with quality and service and his evident passion for all things Draft House.”

Davis Coffer Lyons acted on the deal.