Brewhouse & Kitchen has potential to be 50-strong venture

The company, which is led by Simon Bunn and Kris Gumbrell., currently operartes eight sites in the South and South East, with a further three secured in Southbourne, Southampton and Sutton Coldfield.

Rupert West, investment manager at the company’s backers Puma VCT, said: “The funding we have already provided and the agreements we have in place should get them to about 20 unit in the south of England, which is a strong start for a branded business. After that we would like to be involved further and help them grow out to be a bigger, 50-plus unit brand.”

Puma VCTs provided what the company calls ‘a quick and substantial source of funding’, investing £1.5m into Brewhouse and Kitchen in December 2012, and a further £1.6m three months.

The group is set to open the sites in Southampton and Sutton Coldfield by the end of the year. Both sites were acquired by the Puma-backed Hot Copper Pub Company.

Its Southbourne site is set to open in early 2016.