Ultimate Leisure set for rapid expansion
Ultimate Leisure, the late night bar and club operator, has about a dozen new projects in the pipeline including a 1,300-capacity club in Newcastle's Bigg Market, following the first ever late license to be granted on the 100-year-old drinking circuit.
It also has new venues planned in Durham, Leeds, and Rotherham.
The group has secured a further £13m debt-financing package with the Royal Bank of Scotland. "It will allow us to move quickly," said managing director Bob Senior. "We need to be able to capitalise on opportunites as and when they occur. This means we have the money in place to do so."
Another Ultimate project is the conversion of a former post office in Gosforth.
Ultimate, based in the north-east with 23 venues stretching down to the midlands, announced last week that it saw strong trading over the Christmas and New year period. It will announce half-year results in late February.
Last year, profits hit £4.23m on sales of £16.6m. The company prides itself on its track record of converting 25p of every pound into profit.
Post offices could be the new banks. In recent years, pub and bar operators such as All Bar One and Hogshead have cherry-picked the sites of former high street banks. Last week it emerged that up to half of Britain's 17,500 post offices could close under plans drawn up by Consignia. It plans the immediate closure of 1,000 sites with a further 7,000 phased over the next five years. Ultimate Leisure is currently transforming a former post office in Gosforth. It could be among the first of a raft of sites to be snapped up by the trade, for conversion.
