The new format, which is set to launch next Tuesday at Chesterfield pub the Wingerworth, will showcase a new food offer featuring steaks, ribs and Sunday lunches alongside fish and chips, Harry Ramsden's chief executive Joe Teixeira told the Publican’s Morning Advertiser’s (PMA) sister publication MCA.
Teixeira said: "While we will continue to use fish and chips as our hero product, within our licensed trade outlets customers can choose from a wider selection of casual-dining options, which are more closely associated with gastropub.
"Dishes including Black Angus rib-eye steak, rack of ribs and, of course, the traditional Sunday roast are a few examples."
Expansion
There would be at least another two openings in conjunction with Punch during the next year and talks were under way with other parties on further expansion, he added.
Harry Ramsden's will manage both wet and dry sales at the Wingerworth, with the model expected to be applied to future pub outlets.
"The fact is that good pubs remain at the heart of their local communities, welcoming all members of the family and we believe that, as a trusted family brand with an excellent food offering, we can enhance the local proposition even more.
"There is definitely potential within this sector for us, not least because the outlets are already up and running, so that offers a much quicker turnaround than if we were having to source new sites from scratch."
Blurred
Peter Backman, managing director of foodservice analysts Horizons, previously told the PMA he expected to see the lines between different eating-out formats becoming increasingly blurred during 2016.
"I suspect pubs are going to be looking at things like becoming more like coffee shops. Some pub chains (eg, Brains and Fuller's) have developed coffee shop concepts already."