All Inception Group articles
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NewsLarger chains report rebound this festive season
Smaller operators are braced for a difficult new year while bigger chains, such as Rare Restaurants and Hawksmoor, have seen bookings up by as much as 30%
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NewsInception Group turnover up 80%
The experiential bar operator posted sales of £22.7m in 2022, with headline trading holding up “very strongly”
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NewsOpenings of the week
MCA rounds-up this week’s biggest openings stories, featuring Inception Group, Pho, Roxy Leisure, Flat Iron and more
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NewsThe Alchemist: Experiential can’t become a throwaway phrase
Speaking after the brand’s launch in Berlin, CEO Simon Potts says it’s critical to nurture a truly experiential business
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InterviewsInception Group: ‘The roaring 20s will come again’
Co-founder Charlie Gilkes speaks to MCA about the London bar group’s ideas for new concepts, opportunities to grow existing brands, and its mission to create memorable experiences
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NewsInception Group secures £6.7m loan to support expansion
The experiential bar group – winner of Best Pub/Bar Company at MCA’s Retailers’ Retailer of the Year Awards this year – is soon to open its 14th location, Mr Fogg’s Hat Tavern and Gin Club, in Soho
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InterviewsInception Group sees record Christmas trading
The experiential venue operator saw 2022 turnover pass 2019 levels, and is in negotiations to open further London sites, founder Charlie Gilkes tells MCA
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NewsInception Group posts return to profit
The experiential venue operator of Mr Fogg’s and Control Room B saw revenues bounce back to £12.7m in the year to December 2021
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NewsInception Group: ‘We are not trading the hours we would like to’
Founder Charlie Gilkes has spoken out against chronic staff shortages amid clashes over easing immigration rules
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InterviewsInception Group: ‘People need outlets like ours’
Co-founder Charlie Gilkes speaks to MCA about expanding beyond London, the new Control Room B concept, and maintaining a strong experiential offer
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NewsInception Group heads to Battersea Power Station
The Mr Fogg’s operator will open an immersive new bar concept inspired by the Grade II* listed building’s historic Control Room B
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NewsInception acquires Soho site for Mr Fogg’s
The London bar group has taken on the former former Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecote bistro on 50 Dean Street, for an early 2023 opening
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NewsOpenings of the week
MCA rounds up the biggest opening news this week, featuring Wagamama, M Restaurants, Inception Group and San Carlo Group
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Analysis & InsightConsumers prepared to spend more for experiences
With inflation on the up, and consumers still viewing pub menus as good value for money, operators should consider increasing their prices, sector leaders heard at a special Pub Conference roundtable.
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NewsInception Group: ‘We need to give people a reason to leave their sofas’
Late night venues need to offer an experience that cannot be replicated at home, Charlie Gilkes, co-founder of Inception Group has told MCA’s Pub Conference.
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NewsInception Group, Robinsons and Tokyo Industries join Pub Conference line up
Inception Group, Robinsons Brewery and Tokyo Industries are among the operators that will be taking to the stage at MCA’s Pub Conference 2021.
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NewsFreedom Day a ‘complete fallacy’
The end of Covid restrictions on 19 July has been dismissed as “a complete fallacy” unless test and trace rules are changed before mid-August.
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Analysis & InsightRoadmap ‘too little too late’ and ‘worse than the worst-case scenario’
Sector leaders have criticised the Government for once again “penalising hospitality” with its reopening strategy, forcing pubs and restaurants to wait a further three months before they can operate inside. The proposed reopening timeline has been branded “too little too late,” and “worse than the worst-case scenario” by operators from all corners of the sector, who have warned that without significant support in next week’s Budget, there will be a “devastating” fallout for businesses.
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InterviewsCharlie Gilkes: ‘The national health lobby is a concern’
Wet-led operators need guarantees of an upcoming restriction-free reopening, and reassurance that certain measures pushed forward by the health lobby will not remain long term, MCA’s The Conversation has heard.
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InterviewsCharlie Gilkes: ‘We’ll take tiers over lockdown’
Whatever Government has in store for the sector beyond March, Inception Group co-founder Charlie Gilkes’ is hoping for anything but continued closure. Behind some of London’s best-known experiential late-night venues, Gilkes is of the opinion that Inception’s sites are “better off open than closed,” and though he’d rather avoid a return to regional tiering, he’d “rather that than complete lockdown.”