Restaurant operator to spend millions on new outlets. Tony McDonough reports
BAR and restaurant entrepreneur Tim Bacon is to embark on a multi-million pound expansion of his North West portfolio over the next 12 months – including in Liverpool city centre.
The founder of the Living Room chain intends to increase the number of outlets in his Living Ventures stable from around 17 to 25.
Australian-born Mr Bacon told LDP Business of his ambitious plans after last week completing the purchase of five restaurants owned by high-profile chef Paul Heathcote.
The deal, for an undisclosed sum, included the Olive Press sites in Liverpool, Manchester and Cheadle Hulme, Grado in Manchester and London Road in Alderley Edge.
Cheshire-based Living Ventures’ principal brands are the Blackhouse seafood and steak eateries and the Italian-themed Gusto outlets which can be found at Liverpool’s Albert Dock and at Heswall in Wirral.
Mr Bacon said all three of the Olive Press restaurants would be rebranded within 12 months. The outlet in Liverpool’s Castle Street is set to become either a Blackhouse or a Grado, which is a Spanish-themed brand.
Mr Bacon said: “I’ve known Paul Heathcote and we’ve probably talked about doing this deal for about a year.
“The Manchester and Cheadle Hulme Olive Presses will probably become Gustos.
“The Olive Press in Liverpool has been facing some strong competition from other Italians in recent times with San Carlo opening in Castle Street and Jamie’s Italian in Liverpool One.
“We may turn it into a Grado which is a Spanish brand I quite like.
“Certainly the level of investment over the next 12 months will be in the millions.
“Yes, there is a downturn on at the moment but we are in the happy position of seeing our year-on-year trading up around 5% this year.
“The good thing about buying in the current economic climate is that you can get a pretty good deal and the Heathcote restaurants are already in pretty good nick anyway, which you would expect with Paul.”
Mr Bacon formed Living Ventures, with fellow entrepreneur Jeremy Roberts in 1999 and they opened the first Living Room outlets in Liverpool and Manchester shortly afterwards.
The Living Room estate eventually grew to 13 outlets.
Ultimate Leisure, which later became PBR, bought the chain for £28m in June 2007.
PBR collapsed into administration late last year and Mr Bacon attempted to buy back the Living Room outlets – but the administrators would only consider a deal for the whole of the estate, which totalled 43 bars and nightclubs.
Earlier this year Mr Bacon joined forces with a former business partner Dave Hinds – with whom he opened the Life Cafe in Liverpool’s Bold Street in the 1990s – to open £500,000 Red Door bar/restaurant in West Kirby.
Another Red Door is planned for Cheshire early next year.
Recently the company has topped a survey by the National Skills Academy with a satisfaction rating over more than 90% for its standards of service.
Mr Bacon says it is an important part of Living Ventures’ business to operate a number of distinct brands.
Other outlets include the Suburbia club in Hale and another bar called Alchemist which is due to open in Manchester at the end of this month.
He added: “I like where we are going at the moment and what we are bringing into the marketplace.
“I like that we don’t just do one thing – that we offer a bit of individuality. It would be boring otherwise.
“We kept the number of units at 14 for quite a while and now we are ready to expand things again.
“Once we reach 25 I think we will then sit back again for a period of time.”
