Corney & Barrow is reinventing its bars to make them relevant to the new economic reality, following the credit crunch, according to managing director Lucy Knowles.
“We had become exclusive and snooty, full of City traders spending their bonuses on Champagne. Then we lost 30% off our top line overnight when Lehman Brothers collapsed.”
Knowles has created three new concepts: C&B Bar, C&B Cabin and C&B Terrace, with pilots in Masons Avenue, Waterloo Station and Devonshire Terrace respectively.
“It’s given C&B a future,” said Knowles. “We’ve made ourselves relevant to the economic environment. Three years ago, 80% of our take was corporate spend; now 80% is personal spend.”
The C&B Cabin site on The Balcony at Waterloo is trading particularly well, revealed Knowles. “Designed like an Orient Express carriage, it’s like a first class lounge for the railway station,” she said, adding: “We’re hungry for more station sites – we will be going after them.”
There is also cheese and wine take-home offer at Waterloo – and Knowles is putting in a full-time store manager from December.
Knowles revealed that she originally considered taking C&B Cabin into airport terminals, but feared it would compete with airline lounges.
