Draft House, the London-based craft beer bar concept, is to roll out the optics cocktail range from its Bump Caves site across its estate, starting with its latest acquisition, the Laurie Arms on Shepherds Bush Road.
Founder and managing director Charlie McVeigh told M&C Report that the company was still on target to open two more sites this year and was currently in heads of terms on the next.
He said the optics cocktails – served from traditional three-litre pub optics bottles – had proved a huge success at the Tower Bridge Draft House and would be in all his venues by Easter.
He said: “Bump Caves has been a great learning curve – we’ve learnt a lot about spirits and about doing something different. What we’re taking from that is the importance of doing something different for each day part.”
On the Laurie Arms, McVeigh, said: “It’s just the sort of site we like because it is near the corporate area but it also has 600 student flats around it, so we have more than one angle.”
McVeigh said he was excited at the refurbishment possibilities of the Laurie Arms, which is close to the recently demolished Hammersmith Palais and will be a “celebration of everything that was great about that venue”.
He said: “Our love of beer is well known but I’m not sure everyone knows our passion for music, which I hope will come through in this project.”
He said the cost of the project, including premium on the Enterprise Inns free-of-tie lease and the refurbishment, would be between £450,000 and £500,000.
Davis Coffer Lyons acted on the Laurie Arms deal.
