Brasserie Bar Co to enter the pubs-with-rooms market

The brasserie operator, which runs the White Brasserie Co and Brasserie Blanc brands, is to enter the pubs-with-rooms market as part of a plan to reach a target of 50 pubs within five years, The Times​​​ reports.

The programme is being backed by the private equity firm Alchemy Partners, which acquired Brasserie Bar Co in February from Soho Square (formerly Core Capital) in an estimated £40m deal.

At the time of the Alchemy deal, the company was aiming for an investment of as much as £100m over the five-year plan, and it is sticking to that target in the face of inflation.

Brasserie Bar Co, which is chaired by Mark Derry, currently has 14 brasseries on top of its 19 pubs with a total of 1,300 employees.

It has so far acquired the freeholds of six of the 19 leaseholds and expects to have 200 bedrooms across its pub estate within 18 months.

The company said it had enjoyed strong summer trading while Christmas bookings were up 15% on the same period in 2021.

To support its expansion, the group has appointed Patrick Dardis, 63, the former chief executive of Young’s, to the board as a non-executive director. Ed Little, previously property director of RedCat Pub Company, joins Brasserie Bar Co in the same role.