Late-night sector veteran Cymon Eckel is looking to roll out his Forge & Co concept, which combines a restaurant, bar and ‘co-working’ space.
Eckel, the founder of Britannia Pub Co and the man behind London venues such as Riki Tik in Soho and XOYO in Shoreditch, said he was also seeking investors to help him grow the business and was interested in potential franchise opportunities for the brand.
He said the concept allows him to target properties that are not an obvious fit for most hospitality firms – the inaugural outlet in Shoreditch is a three-storey former motorcycle showroom – and also enables each element of the business to feed into the others.
The ground floor of the building is split between the Canteen – serving from breakfast to dinner and focussing on “quirky, modern British dishes”, including the signature Ox Heart Burger – and the Lounge, stocking craft beers, spirits, wines and cocktails with DJ sets in the evenings.
The top two floors are dedicated to office space, combining studios, communal hotdesks and individual desks. Eckel said these are let for as little as a few days and up to six months.
The basement is reserved for event spaces and galleries.
Eckel said that while that first venue was on a 20-year lease he was interested in pursuing freehold opportunities going forward.
He said: “We are very hungry to move this on. We have had a fantastic reception so far and it’s something that seems to be really relevant to the way that people work and play at the moment. The bar is open to the public so can have a life of its own but it’s part of the social aspect of this way of working.
“It gives us a lot of flexibility because the model depends on the site, so if it’s a smaller building we can focus on the office space and perhaps just have a coffee bar.”
Eckel said that so far revenue was split roughly 70/30 in favour of the office space but said he expected the leisure aspect to grow as the brand became better known.
He said he was currently looking for sites within London but said eventually he could see the concept working in other urban locations.
He added that several councils in London had expressed an interest in supporting the scheme.
