Andrew Fishwick launches new acquisition and investment vehicle Hestia Hospitality with £50m ‘war chest’

Called Hestia Hospitality, the business says it is ‘on a mission to become the UK’s leading hospitality group focused on premium and high-end experiences’, targeting annual revenues of more than £100m within three years.

The group recently secured a £50m ‘war chest’ to target acquisitions and consolidation opportunities in the UK hospitality sector, with its initial acquisitions including sustainable brand Native, which announced this week that it has secured the former Pensons site in Worcestershire for a new restaurant.​​

It has also invested in Filipino chef Ferdinand 'Budgie' Montoya’s Sarap​​ and Apoy brands, the latter of which launched within Market Halls Oxford Circus in London last year​​; and premium coffee brand Bloom.

Fishwick, who is the chair of marketing consultancy SALT and was previously CEO of restaurant partnerships firm The Pepper Collective, will lead Hestia alongside an experienced management and advisor team.

They include CFO Paul Helmsley, former group finance director of The Innovation Group; non-executive chair Simon Esner, co-founder of WSH Ltd – previously one of the UK’s largest companies, with brands including Benugo, Searcy’s, and BaxterStorey; and non-executive director Steve Smith, who advised on transactions during nearly three decades at Morgan Stanley.

Special advisors include Justin King CBE (pictured with Fishwick), former Sainsbury’s CEO and current non-executive director of M&S and Itsu; and Richard Wassell, founder of twentyretail and former chair of the Restaurant Property Advisors Society.

Hestia’s management team will work with each of its brands to ‘empower the concepts to fulfil their growth potential’.

Leveraging learnings from across its brands, Hestia will also ‘enable the sharing of best practices as they collectively contribute to the group’s vision of creating world-class consumer experiences’.

“This funding round is a resounding endorsement of our thesis that there has never been a better time to invest in our sector,” says Fishwick.

“There are exceptional businesses with outstanding entrepreneurs and management teams behind them that need the support to grow to their full potential.

“Hestia is designed to be the antithesis of private equity; it is designed to nurture and facilitate sustainable growth and development, whilst maintaining excellence and keeping the customer experience at the front and centre of everything we do.”