Barrio to open largest site in Covent Garden
The news follows Nightcap agreeing a £10m debt refinancing facility with HSBC UK to continue its expansion.
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Nightcap, the owner of The Cocktail Club, the Adventure Bar Group and the Barrio Familia group of bars, has announced the opening of a Tequila-focussed bar, the first new site for its Barrio brand following the acquisition of the Barrio Familia Group in November 2021.
The latest lease signing at Gillian Lynne Theatre in Covent Garden has a capacity of 600 arranged across the ground floor and first floor, measuring approximately 10,500 square feet in total. It has a 2:30 am licence on Monday to Saturday with a 12:00 am licence on Sunday.
This is the first Barrio to open since 2015 and will be the flagship site as the largest Barrio to date and the largest Nightcap venue in London. It takes the total number of Barrio branded venues to five.
The site, formerly The Tropicana Beach Club, once completed it will be one of the largest Tequila-focussed bars in the world, according to Nightcap.
Nightcap now has 35 sites and a further 21 premises under offer or in legal negotiations for all its brands and continues to see “favourable market conditions” for site acquisitions across the UK.
Sarah Willingham, CEO of Nightcap, said: “When we acquired Barrio in November 2021 we wanted to respond to the growing demand for Latin-inspired, Margarita and Tequila focussed bars, we always viewed Barrio as a brand that had significant potential for growth and rollout and we are absolutely delighted to have secured such a landmark venue in Central London.
“It is a site that is very well known to our current senior management team at Barrio and we are very excited about the growth opportunity for the brand, so it’s very fitting that the first new site will be at such an iconic Central London venue.”
She added: “I am so proud of the way that Barrio has integrated into the business since day one. It is thanks to the hard work and dedication of the teams and all those involved that they can start their growth journey so quickly after joining the Nightcap group.
The news follows Nightcap agreeing a £10m debt refinancing facility with HSBC UK to continue its expansion. It is using the bank’s support to consolidate existing debt facilities worth £5.5m across 35 sites, three of which are in the final stages of refurbishment.
