Georgica invests in cash-starved clubs and bars
The new owner of Allied Leisure and European Leisure's bars is investing in its existing outlets before looking for new venues.
Georgica, which bought Allied last October, said it was trying to turn around the business by refurbishing cash-starved sites.
It owns nine pubs and bars left over after the previous management carried out a major disposal programme last year.
The portfolio was created by Allied through its acquisition of European Leisure and Waterfall Holdings.
The rest of Georgica's business is focused on its 160 pool and snooker clubs, chiefly the Riley's chain, and Megabowl leisure complexes.
It has confirmed that it has received a bid from a UK-based group for its 35 Burger King franchises, thought to be worth about £1m.
Chief executive Nick Oppenheim, the former boss of nightclub giant Northern Leisure, has said it would hold on to the remaining bars and pubs and invest in them.
He told thePublican.com that the outlets "appeared to be promising" and did not rule out that it could acquire more bars or pubs in the future.
In its first set of results, Georgica reported pre-tax profits of £1m for the 49 weeks to June 30 and sales of £79m.
Mr Oppenheim said: "At the beginning of the trading period, sales were disappointing due in part to the uncertainty caused by Georgica's takeover of Allied Leisure.
"Many of the outlets in the Allied estate have suffered and are suffering from a lack of capital investment.
"Effort and resources are initially being directed towards upgrading Georgica's existing estate, as such investment is likely to earn a higher rate of return than opening additional outlets."
He said that, once the outlets were trading well again, cash would be channelled into expanding its core chain of Riley's clubs.
Georgica's bars range from the Buzz Bar in London's Leicester Square to Bar Central in Milton Keynes, Full Moon in Bristol and Tom Peppers in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.
