Summit Clubs widens scale

Former Soho Clubs and Bars boss Jeremy Gordeno has made five additions to his new nightclub company Summit Clubs.

Gordeno, who already operates six sites, has bought four sites from Novus, formerly known as Urbium, and taken the lease on a new-build site in Brighton. Three of the Novus sites are in London - the Boardwalk and the Soho, both in Greek Street and Oxygen in Leicester Square. The venues are believed to have a combined turnover of around £5m a year, with Oxygen the busiest of the three.

The fourth Novus site is the former Tiger Tiger nightclub on Birmingham's Broad Street. Speaking of his London acquisitions, Gordeno said: "Bars, restaurants, and clubs in the West End need to remain as individual as the people who go to them. These are all funky clubs with 3am licences in trendy areas. They all have their own identity and should be promoted and operated as such.

"I just could not pass up the chance of acquiring such a desirable and unique group of fabulous operations, which so rarely become available as a package."

Summit Clubs was formed in June this year with the acquisition of six sites from CanDu Entertainment. Gordeno said that trading had been "absolutely fantastic" in the six months since the deal.

It is thought the sale of the four sites by Novus is a tail-trimming exercise. It will reduce the group's estate to 36 outlets. Novus chief executive Steve Richards explained that the sites were smaller than a typical Novus business, and did not fit with their typical site requirements.