Faucet puts KuPP into administration

Faucet Inn founder Steve Cox has told MCA he still sees opportunities to expand the KuPP casual dining brand despite the closure of two sites and KuPP Ltd being put into administration.

Cox told MCA he had agreed to buy back two of the four sites for the Scandinavian-inspired brand from the administrators – the debut restaurant Merchant Square, Paddington and the most recent opening in Oxford Westgate, and stressed that both continued to trade well.

He said the group was also still in talks to take the brand to Oslo, where Faucet already operates a site under its Babel bar model.

He said the focus going forward would be on smaller sites for the brand.

Cox said it had been a difficult decision to put KuPP into administration and close the sites in Southampton and Exeter but that it was the right decision for the future of the brand.

He said: “It’s really unfortunate and it’s the last thing we want to happen but the cost headwinds that were against us and the sheer size of these units meant we just weren’t generating the traffic to warrant the costs. We didn’t want those sites to detract from the successes in the rest of the estate.”

He said the group was also keen to grow its currently 12-strong pub estate with one acquisition close to completion. He said there were also various renovation projects due to come online, including planning permission for 28 bedrooms at the Grasshopper in Westerham, Kent.

Faucet also operates the Neighbourhood concept in Southampton and Sratford. Cox reiterated that the brand was no longer as a rollout model but that both sites were trading solidly.

Geoff Rowley and Jason Baker, partners at specialist business advisory firm FRP Advisory LLP, confirmed to MCA that they were appointed joint administrators of KuPP Ltd on 21 August.