Feeling fine - Fuller's Fine Line bar concept

Fuller's is looking beyond the traditional pub with its Fine Line bar concept.

There is a stylish bar-restaurant in West London that has been visited by an unusually high number of senior management from Britain's regional brewers.

Vesbar in Shepherd's Bush was described by the hip reviewers at Time Out magazine as "smart, sleek and modern".

What attracts the curious industry watchers is the fact that it doesn't sell real ale - a fact that is surprising because it is owned by London brewer Fuller's. Behind the bar are quality wines and spirits but not a drop of London Pride.

Fuller's has a handful of "gastrobars" like Vesbar as well as the Broadwalk entertainment venues, but its core bar brand is The Fine Line which has eight outlets in London and a ninth in Bristol.

While some brewers have tried coming up with their own concepts themselves, Fuller's has strengthened its retail team with expertise from the bar industry. The bars division is headed by Harri Owen, who was operations manager of Pitcher & Piano, while The Fine Line's operations manager Rupert Clark came from All Bar One. Other staff have come from brands such as Slug and Lettuce and Henry's Café-Bars.

Rupert believes that working within a branded business provides some useful operational frameworks, but The Fine Line offers managers "a lot more autonomy".

"The idea is to give the managers ownership," he said. "It's their own bar and they should run it as they see fit. In the short term, it's a high-risk strategy. If someone has an idea, you have to let them run with it."

Rupert prefers not to talk about The Fine Line as a retail brand. There are common features, such as the deep blue and purple sofas and cushions and the tables, chairs and floors of polished light wood, but the offer varies from site to site.

"Since managers bring their own personality and ideas and use different products, I like to think of it as more of a concept," he said.

Fine Lines in Battersea and Clapham have DJs, Bristol has a separate restaurant, Clapham is about to get a late licence and a handful of outlets have greeters on the door. While there is a shared food and cocktail menu, bars offer a range of local specials.

"Managers want to create a different type of vibe to attract different types of people rather than be restrained by heavy branding," Rupert said.

The first Fine Line opened in Battersea in June 1998, followed by three more by September. The remaining five opened in 1999, but there has been nothing since Holborn nearly two years ago.

"We are looking but we are really particular about where we want to go," Rupert said. "The competition for sites is very high.

"We're not looking outside of London at the moment but we would review that in the future because there are some great towns and cities where The Fine Line would work."

For now, Fuller's is subtly revamping the older sites, such as £100,000 spent at Easter on updating its City bar in the Minories. But, after picking up Time Out and Retailers' Retailer awards, The Fine Line clearly has potential for expansion.

"We have even got managers involved in looking for new locations," Rupert said. "One manager cycles a different route from North London to work every day to see if he can spot potential sites, so we have a few ideas."