Late-night sector veteran Cymon Eckel is to open a second outlet for his restaurant/bar/office space hybrid concept, Forge & Co, M&C Report has learnt.
Eckel has teamed up with high-end retailer Heal’s to take over the former work canteen on the first floor of its Tottenham Court Road store. Forge & Co will also have a coffee and juice stand at the front of the store.
Eckel told M&C Report: “We’re on site at the moment – we are going back to the original structure of the building, which is an early 20th century warehouse style interior.
“Our opening timeline is the first two weeks of June.”
The inaugural Forge & Co, housed in a former motorcycle showroom in Shoreditch High Street, is laid out over four floors – with the ground floor split between The Canteen restaurant and The Lounge bar, two storeys of office space and the basement given over as a space for events and exhibitions.
Eckel, who describes his concept as “a place where you truly can work, rest and play” said the Tottenham Court Road site would have the same ethos in a different space.
He said: “It’s a 3,500sqft – about 1,400sqft of that will become residential desk space. The rest will be British brasserie restaurant/café, a lounge area for people to eat, drink and work. We’re also going to be working with Heal’s to put on a series of events over the next year, which will reflect both brand’s values.”
On future growth, Eckel said: “Forge & Co can work in many formats. I think it can work in many areas including on a micro basis in London’s bigger villages.
“We have been approached by a couple of property developers. There is a very successful EIS fund that has made an approach. At the moment we aren’t pursuing any of those lines because we want to build up the brand and focus on the second site.”
He said trade at the first site had continued to be good, saying: “We are up year on year. The office space has been full for three months now, so it only took us three months to get to that stage.”
A spokesperson for Heal’s said: “We are delighted to bring Forge & Co to Heal’s. The idea of a lounge / cafe being a forge of ideas, a creative hub where customers can meet, work and share is very much in keeping with our heritage as the Heal’s building - up until the late 1990s - had a bedding and cabinetry factory as well as the store and restaurant. And knowing Cymon started his career as a furniture maker and a huge fan of Ambrose Heal’s work was an unexpected and added bonus.”
