Be At One, the Piper-backed cocktail bar chain, is set to open its 20th site before the end of the year, after securing three new bars, including its second outside London, in Brighton, and its first in the West End, M&C Report understands.
The 17-strong group, which is led by Steve Locke, Rhys Oldfield and Leigh Miller, has completed on a site in Wimpole Street, off Oxford Street, and exchanged contracts on a further two.
The first is Los Locos in Russell Street Covent Garden, which will be the group’s first late night venue in the West End; the second is Cube Bar in Brighton, which will become the company’s second site outside of London. It is understood to be in advanced talks on a further regional site.
The company plans to have reached 23 sites by the end of March 2014.
In the past 12 months, the group has opened five new sites including Reading, its first site outside the capital, which is believed to be trading beyond expectations, leading it to focus its attention on expanding the brand outside of the capital.
Locke told M&C Report: “The Reading opening has been a real stormer, achieving mature sales much quicker than we anticipated. The guests seem to have a real appreciation of Be At One’s cocktail offering and service style. This has given us huge confidence to take the offering to other parts of the country.”
Oldfield said: “The additional site outside London and the acquisition of two new bars in the West End puts us in very good stead for the run up to Christmas. The Wimpole Street bar is just north of Oxford Street and is well placed for office and retail workers and shoppers alike.”
Be At One’s main standout feature continues to be its service and the bartenders. The company invests eight weeks of time as well as the £5,000 into every team member by putting them through a comprehensive training programme to ensure all of their employees are “world-class” bartenders.
The programme consists of learning over 200 cocktails, liquor knowledge, free-pouring, multiple order-taking and serving great-quality cocktails in a high-volume, high-pressure environment. In addition to this, each trainee is assigned a personal In Store Trainer who tracks their progress and guides/mentors them throughout the training process.
Davis Coffer Lyons acted for Be At One on the acquisition of Wimpole St and Restaurant Property acted on Be At One’s behalf for both Los Locos and Brighton acquisitions.
