Be At One plans ambitious roll-out

Be At One, the London-based cocktail bar operator, has ambitious plans to grow the size of its estate having seen like-for-like sales over the past year increase by more than 11 per cent.

The privately-owned group currently runs 10 bars in the capital, but according to co-founder Steve Locke it has identified several sites where it believes it can repeat the success of its wholly wet-led offer.

"We plan to add another five sites in the next 18 months. Our bank [Royal Bank of Scotland] is very supportive, although we can't spend millions and we do have to jump through a few more hoops and provide even more paperwork than we used to when applying for finance for a given project," he said.

The group spends between £500,000 and £650,000, including refurbishment costs, on a new site, Clarke said.

Meanwhile Be At One reported successful trading in December 2010, with turnover in the month of £834, 952, up nearly 22 per cent on the previous December. Like-for-like December sales for units open more than a year rose 11.1 per cent to £762, 422.

Locke put the success down to "focusing on the basics".

"We've invested quite a bit in training, both in the bars and in classrooms at our head office. We've also beefed up the management team, taking Andrew Stones [ex-Whitbread and Wetherspoons] as our new operations director and Zoe Tindall, who joined us as finance director from Yo! Sushi. These appointments are indicative of our ambitions," he added.

Despite the state of the economy Locke said the group was "enthusiastic" about its prospects for 2011 and beyond.

"I believe the 2012 Olympics will have a very positive impact on the London economy and we will look to continue with our wet-led approach. If food supports drink sales then fair enough, but we specialise in cocktails and bottled beers. It's what we do, and we aim to do it better year-on-year."