Be At One, the 12-strong London-based cocktail bar chain, has appointed Simon Rowe, former group financial officer at Paramount Restaurants, as its interim finance director, M&C Report understands.
Rowe, who is also currently part-time finance director at Princi - Alan Yau’s restaurant and bakery venture in London - stepped down from Paramount Restaurants at the end of last year.
It is thought that the company will continue to seek a long-term, permanent finance director. Zoe Tindall, formerly of YO! Sushi, who was the group’s previous acting financial director, left to join Vietnamese-chain Pho at the end of 2010.
Private equity group Piper recently took a significant minority stake in Be At One, investing £8m in the business, which valued it close to £20m.
The investment will aid an aggressive rollout of the brand towards an estate of around 30 sites. It is thought that the main focus in the short-term will be the addition of further sites within London before the chain explores opportunities outside the capital.
The business, which was founded in 1998 by three former TGI Friday’s bar staff Steve Locke, Rhys Oldfield and Leigh Miller, hopes to open a further two sites in the capital before the end of next March.
