Snug Bars to add two new sites in 2013

By Emma Eversham

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Cocktail Finance St albans

Snug Bars, which started life in 2005 in the Spread Eagle pub in Cambridge, is set to grow further this year
Snug Bars, which started life in 2005 in the Spread Eagle pub in Cambridge, is set to grow further this year
Cambridgeshire and Chilterns-based pub company Snug Bars has unveiled plans to open two more sites this year following a record Christmas trading period.  

The five-strong site business, founded by Giles Fry and Ashley Moore in 2005, saw like-for-like sales rise 16 per cent in December with three of the five sites hitting record weekly and monthly sales figure.

"All of our teams have done a fantastic job over Christmas and we are confident all this hard work will continue to pay off in to 2013,” said managing director Fry.

“You can’t predict exactly what January and February will hold, but this is the most prepared we have been for January and as such, everything is looking very positive for 2013."

Expansion plans

Having seen sales grow, the cocktail and kitchen concept, which actually disposed of one site last year to streamline the business, is now looking to expand again with two more sites expected to open this year and another five by 2018, taking the entire estate up to 12. 

Fry told BigHospitality: "Our intention this year is to open two new sites. We are close to agreeing our sixth bar and we expect to carry on the search for the seventh no further than 25 miles away from our current trading locations."

So far the company has grown organically, but Fry said it may seek alternative funding to help it grow more in the future.

"We are self-funded which has been one of the frustrating reasons why we have expanded so slowly. This year we have been investigating the other methods of raising finance which do not involve banks," he said. 

Snug Bars started life in Cambridge in 2005 when Fry and Moore took over the Spread Eagle pub. The company now operates two sites in Cambridge and one each in Hertford, St Albans and High Wycombe where they serve 'premium cocktails alongside quality food.'  New sites are expected to remain close to existing locations. 

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