Joe Holdsworth, the director of operations at Aspirational Pub Co has left the group to set up his own business, M&C has learnt.
Holdsworth, who first joined the Hertfordshire-based pub operator in 2009, has set up a company called Chalk & Lime with Aspirational marketing manager and graphic designer, Harley Foote.
Holdsworth told M&C the first project for the pair would be a cocktail bar in St Albans called Sucker Punch. The pair are in the final stages of securing the lease and expect to be open by late November.
They are working on several other concepts which they expect to open under Chalk & Lime and could roll out Sucker Punch to other areas.
Holdsworth told M&C: “St Albans is replete with bars but I don’t feel there’s anything offering London-level cocktails. It will be a high-end premium experience.
“I spent my early years in the trade working for the Match group and I learnt a lot from how they blew the lid off the cocktail scene. I think there’s a gap in the market right now to do that on a smaller scale in St Albans.
“The industrial feel has become the default look for bars that are springing up all over the place now and we want to take that a bit further and have a kind of steam punk feel to the bar.”
The bar will offer bottled beers as well as cocktails and a menu based around eight different servings of chips.
On future growth, he said: “We have three other concepts that we can pursue. I see another Sucker Punch in the future, if not several but we have different offerings for different areas.”
