Laine Pub Company chief executive Gavin George has told M&C the company is “acquisitive” and is actively looking for new London sites while investing in its current estate.
George told M&C he hoped to be able to secure an eighth pub in the capital this year.
He said the company, which has primarily focussed on its London push in recent years, had invested in four of its Brighton pubs this year. He said he planned further investments in the five Enterprise leased pubs for which the company recently secured free-of-tie agreements.
He also plans to add a kegging facility to one of the brewpubs.
The most recent investment for the Risk Capital Partners-backed group is at the Four Thieves in Battersea where the former Jongleurs comedy club on the first floor has been transformed into a treasure trove of retro arcade games, including a giant remote control racing car track.
George explained: “We had tried to turn it into a music venue but kept getting noise complaints from the neighbours so we needed something that would be an attraction but wouldn’t make a lot of noise. My son had just come back from America and was raving about arcade bars so we thought we’d give it a go.”
The bar is also hosting an immersive gaming experience in a separate room behind the ground floor bar, in which groups of five pay to visit Lady Chastity’s vineyard and solve a murder mystery, with the chance to win a bottle of “aphrodisiac wine”. George describes the concept as “the Crystal Maze on crystal meth”.
The company is also working with Boodles Gin, who provide a butler for the pub, offering to double up customers’ gin & tonics for the price of a single.
