Steve Wilkins, the serial bar entrepreneur, has launched a new food-led pub venture called Little Gems Country Dining.
Wilkins, who recently sold Lewis & Clarke, the City-based "gastro-bar" chain, to Balls Brothers for between £13m and £14m, has teamed up again with Rachel Slater.
An investing partner, Slater has assumed the position of finance director. She has worked with Wilkins on several previous ventures including Lewis & Clarke.
The venture does not involve John Connell with whom Wilkins and Slater have built and sold several companies. It is thought that Connell plans to launch a new venture in central London, while Little Gems will look for sites in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.
The company's first site, The Swan Inn at Milton Keynes Village, near Milton Keynes, has just opened. An Enterprise Inns lease, the pub has 65 covers plus an additional 32 outside.
Wilkins said that the company would look predominantly for freehold properties. “The clue is the name,” he said. “We want to find great pubs that will fit with our aim of creating a high-quality, food-led pub business.”
The company is currently looking for its second site.
