Father’s Study pub concept

The privately-owned company, which owns Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes and the Ray’s Pizza brand, will open the first site under the new concept in Holborn in November.

The pubs will feature décor themed around different careers, with the first set to highlight the life of a bachelor in the mould of Hugh Hefner. Dalton said the new openings would be funded by existing cash flow.

He said: “We’ll try and create individually-styled pubs with plenty of character, which will serve a good range of beers and quality food.
“Each will be based on a theme, for example if we opened in Oxford the décor will be based on the life of a scholar, or in Bristol based on an old mariner. We hope to open between six to eight sites under the format.”

The company is also set to open its third site through its joint venture with Jamie Hawksworth in Cambridge later this year. It already operates the Euston Tap at Euston train station and the Pivni Bar in York under the joint venture and is set to open the Cambridge Tap at the city’s railway station later this year.

The Euston Tap was until recently run by Tim Anderson, who won TV’s MasterChef at the end of April. Dalton didn’t rule out opening further Tap sites with Hawksworth, who hopes to open his own York Tap at the city’s train station this year.