Karaoke operator Lucky Voice to open Islington bar

Lucky Voice, the style bar and private-room karaoke concept, is to open a bar in Islington next week and another in Brighton in 2009.

The bar in Islington is on Upper Street - at the site of a former Tragus-owned Bierdome Belgian bar - and will open on August 28.

Nick Thistleton, Lucky Voice's managing director, said the rollout of extra venues showed the confidence the company had in its brand - which has previously been franchised by Novus Leisure for Tiger Tiger bars in Manchester and Cardiff.

The purchase price of the Islington venue has not been disclosed.

Thistleton told M&C Report: "We are very confident about the staying power of what we have to offer. We have the money and there are sites available out there.

"We are not shutting the gates to new development and I think this is shown by our commitment in Islington. We are looking at a site in Brighton and we expect it to open in the first half of next year."

Thistleton explained that the Lucky Voice in Islington had a high street presence with a bigger bar than its Soho sister site. "This is the major difference from the venue in Soho - there is more room for drinking," he added.

He also indicated that there might be even more Lucky Voice openings in the future.

"We expect site availability and price to only get better from a purchasing point of view," he said.

"We are not going to be opening five sites a year - but we going to be opening more venues. It is important to prove that we are not a fly-by-night trend that can only work in Soho.

"What we have found is that people love singing and we are very excited by the future."

Earlier this year it was revealed that Lucky Voice had secured funding from a clutch of high-profile individuals to help with expansion plans.

Karen Jones, the former CEO of Spirit Group, and Sir Stuart Rose, executive chairman at Marks & Spencer, both bought into the business. However, the M&S boss later sold his shares on.