Corney & Barrow (C&B) is to refocus on its core bar brand after a strategic review of its estate, which has seen the sale of the Cabin, its transport hub concept site at Waterloo Station, to SSP.
The Cabin, which was launched at the end of July last year by former C&B managing director and current SSP chief marketing officer Lucy Knowles, will become part of the SSP estate from 13 November 2013 and join the travel site expert’s growing portfolio of premium bars, such as The Merchantat Liverpool Street and The Grain Loftat Manchester Airport.
C&B had previously announced plans to expand the Cabin format to 11 sites over the next three years.
Ed Gardner, managing director, Corney & Barrow Bars, said: “The new executive team at C&B Bars has recently completed a strategic review of the company’s bar estate. This has resulted in a decision to terminate C&B’s interest in Cabin at Waterloo Station.
“Our priority going forward is to consolidate and build on our pre-eminent position within the Square Mile and Canary Wharf. We have a number of key investment plans for the City estate and this realignment of resources will enable us to focus on our core strengths as the economy and trading conditions around us improve. No other disposals are contemplated at this time”.
Mark Angela, chief executive of SSP UK & Ireland, said: “We are very pleased to be including Cabin in our growing portfolio of premium bars, such as The Merchant at Liverpool Street and The Grain Loft at Manchester Airport. Bars and pubs form a key part of our strategy as we focus on upgrading our estate and introducing premium offers as part of the mix.
“We will continue to invest and bring innovation to this sector to ensure we continue to deliver an exceptional experience for customers. We have invested in the team to do this. Barry Gifford is our ops Director and earlier in the year, we appointed Lucy Knowles from Corney & Barrow Bars to the position of chief marketing officer to drive this sector of our business. Lucy will be supported by Natalia Di Palma who has a wealth of experience heading up the marketing at Drake & Morgan.”
