James Robson, the founder of Mews of Mayfair restaurant collection, has told M&C Report he is looking to east London for expansion and wants his next project to be scalable.
The company is in the process of forming a board of directors, having now finalised its senior management team as custodians of the five venues at Lancashire Court as well as being the next wave of managers when growth begins.
Robson told M&C Report he is looking at sites in Wood Wharf and the Olympic Park in Stratford to open late 2016 when he wants to bring together some of the successful elements of the Mews restaurants with a pizza or grill-based concept that would be scalable.
“We have our signature site and can’t beat that or want to swap that for anything but next time will be something simpler. I think less complicated and easier is the way the market is going.”
“We have a big, complicated site with five leases grown over eight years and now basically have a whole street in Mayfair and it takes a strong team to do that,” Robson said. ”We have learnt a lot with Mews – with so many trading areas it’s almost a ridiculous business model but it works in the street we are in and now we want to take the best of it all and maybe do a Mews bar & grill, for example.”
He said the company is well supported by its shareholders and banking facility with Coutts, adding that funding is not a barrier to expansion plans but finding sites and retaining staff is more troublesome.
A combination of high premiums for sites in central and west London as well as the vibrant environment in east London is influencing Robson’s decision to look to different parts of the city.
He wants to find an “iconic or beautiful” building, adding that “a view, a friendly landlord and outside space helps a lot.”
Having announced four appointments at senior management level, the team is currently complete and will provide a pool of talent for the next phase of growth.
