Urban Pubs & Bars to launch new pizza concept in Hackney
The company, which was launched at the end of 2013 and currently operates five pubs, is to invest £200k in turning the former Palmerston Arms pub in Well Street into the new pizza joint.
It is thought that if successful the group will look to open more under the format.
The new venture will be set over two floors with an open plan kitchen area housing a wood burning pizza oven upstairs along with seating for 40 customers and a further 40 covers in a dive bar downstairs.
The group already operates the Old Ship in the area.
The company opened its latest site, the Wheatsheaf in Tooting, South London, earlier this year.
It is looking to eventually grow an estate of up to 20 sites across central London and the capital’s ‘urban villages’ through the acquisition of further quality leasehold or freehold pubs, capable of achieving weekly sales in excess of £20,000.
Speaking at the time of the company’s launch, Pring said: “The most exciting thing for us is taking the first three to six pubs. We can then start building a head office team to take it to the next stage of the company’s development.”
He also said that the group would look at using some of the sites as test kitchens for food-led offers, which in time could see it target A3 units for expansion, “similar in style to Loungers”.
The group currently features a pizza offer at it’s the Rose Pub & Kitchen in New Cross Road.
He said: “We won’t be as restrictive with ourselves in terms of locations this time around and will look at opportunities from Zone 1 to Zones 5-6. Many parts of the Realpubs formula will be retained and evolved, but, in addition to this, we plan to develop casual dining offers within certain pubs that may, in time, be spun off into dining offers in their own right.”
