Deltic Group is to open two more Bar & Beyond sites in the next month, and plans to accelerate the rollout of the brand in 2017, MCA has learnt.
The conversions of the former Chicago Leisure sites in Norwich and King’s Lynn will take the late-night bar estate to five.
Chief executive Peter Marks told MCA that last year’s acquisition and refurbishment of the former Gatecrasher site in Birmingham to a Pryzm had meant growth of Bar & Beyond had not been as aggressive as he would have liked.
He said: “The next year will see us sticking to our knitting, in continuing to invest in our current estate but also opening Bar & Beyonds. The investment in Birmingham took up a lot of our time and cash so we didn’t do as many Bar & Beyonds as we wanted last year.”
Marks was talking to MCA following the publication of its second Night Index. He said the success of this year’s January pay weekend showed there was still significant appetite for nights out amongst all ages.
The index included statistics about the impact of Dry January, which Marks stressed could easily be overstated.
He said: “Young people are more likely to do Dry January so you could infer from that it will be of increasing significance but it has been overblown as a generality. I think it’s fair to say a lot of the trade bemoan it but I think it’s more to do with the economics.”
Asked about the potential for consolidation in the late-night sector, Marks said: “People have been talking about consolidation for 10 years because there are companies there to be consolidated and I can see that it will continue to be a subject on everyone’s lips. There is a lot of appetite for it but we have seen very little evidence of it actually happening. I don’t see a new entrant coming on to the scene at the moment. There’s a lot in the mix and I think anyone who wants to buy a business would want to see how the headwinds coming this year will affect it.
“Stonegate have been a fantastic consolidator but I don’t really see anyone doing anything.”
