Cubitt House plots 'aggressive plan of growth'
Speaking at this week's Restaurant R200 conference, Cubitt House director and co-chair Georgie Pearman confirmed the group's expansion aims, in conversation with the group's managing director, Sebastian Fogg; and chef director Ben Tish.
Pearman, Fogg and Tish form part of a number of recent new appointments to the business, with Pearman's husband Sam also joining as director and co-chair; and Laura Montana taking on the role of openings director.
The team will oversee the refurbishment of Cubitt House’s current estate as well as grow its portfolio through a series of acquisitions.
Cubitt House has already launched its first new acquisition of the year, The Builders Arms in Chelsea; and next week will open its second new venue, The Princess Royal in Notting Hill (pictured). This will then be followed in the summer with the launch of The Barley Mow in Mayfair.
A further pub, in Clerkenwell, will also open before the end of the year, with another three in the pipeline for 2023.
"We’ve got a reasonably aggressive plan of growth," said Fogg. "We’re polishing the legacy and looking to take it forward."
Alongside its new launches, the group recently renovated and reopened its first site in the Cubitt House estate, The Coach Makers Arms in Marylebone, adding a 60-cover restaurant on the first floor with a chophouse-style menu designed by Tish; and a 50-cover cocktail bar on the pub's lower ground floor.
Fogg said that the team's focus going forward is on making sure each pub in the Cubitt House portfolio has its own distinct look and feel.
"We are curating a group of independent, food-forward pubs, and giving the license to the general managers and head chefs.
"There’s a food framework for them to follow, but there’s also plenty of creative freedom. We’re trying to give autonomy to each independent site."
Having joined in September, Pearman, who previously co-founded The Lucky Onion hospitality group with her husband, added that while the first months were focused on building the group's management team, the focus since the start of January has been on expansion.
"We inherited the estate at not a particularly good time, but they’re great pubs in great locations," she said.
"The first quarter, after we joined the group, was about making management changes, and since January it’s been about growing.
"Beyond 2023 we’re not quite sure [how many pubs we'll open], but things keep happening and keep changing."
