Late Knights to launch bakery/pub concept
The company’s founder Steve Keegan said he is also keen to open a French brasserie-style gastro pub.
He told M&C he was working with a housing association to convert a “massive” pub in south-east London into an entirely new concept. The company is in the final stages of securing Heritage Lottery funding for the project which he said would run into millions of pounds.
Keegan said he could not yet identify the pub as it had a sitting tenant but he had this week revealed his vision to his staff.
He said: “I’m a bit of a hippy to be honest and something like this really appeals to me. We are going to be working with the community to find out what they want from it. This is not about dropping a concept into an area because it sounded like a good idea to us. We want to create something that’s really going to be a part of the community.
“The site is massive and your mind goes into overdrive. Well, mine does anyone. I’d love to put a cinema in there because there’s a space that would be perfect for that. We want some sort of brewing capability there but we’re not sure yet exactly how that will work.
Baking skills
“I’m really excited about the idea of the bakery. A brewer is essentially the same as a baker. You’re just working with wetter ingredients. I love baking bread and we have a lot of people in the team who have those skills. I’m a big believer that it’s all about making the most of what you already have in the team.
“I would love to do a coffee shop but I don’t have those skills. There will be a café though but we’re not going to be selling ourselves as coffee experts.”
He said the farm would represent phase two of the lottery project.
“There is an area of around 20 acres which we want to turn into an urban farm. It would be a development project – getting the whole community involved in setting it up and running it. We would be producing food that we could use in the pub so it all works together.”
Late Knights’ fifth pub will be open in Ramsgate next month and Keegan predicts its pub estate will have grown to seven within the next six months.
He said his other ambitions include a gastro pub with a French brasserie theme.
“It’s fair to say I get bored easily. I am always looking for the next bonkers idea”, he said.
