InnBrighton Ltd, the South East regional pub group led by Gary Pettet and Gavin George, has this week secured a new lease on the site of the former Redback Tavern in High Street Acton, W3.
As the photographs show, this will be a challenging project, though also a great opportunity. H&C News looks forward to viewing the transformation of the venue into InnBrighton’s fifth London site – including the planned brewery operation.
The infamous Aussie and Kiwi expat music venue closed for business in early 2012, but the imposing building and its location have since aroused interest from a significant number of operators, not least from InnBrighton, who have already opened four sites in the capital over the last two years. CEO Gavin George comments: “It’s an amazing site in a location which our extensive research suggests is ideal for our style of pub operation.”
Creating a flagship site
Intending to mirror the successful transformations of the Crystal Palace Tavern in East Dulwich into the Great Exhibition, the Greyhound in Battersea into the Candle Maker, and the Clarendon in Newington Green into the Dissenting Academy, InnBrighton will invest £600K into the creation of a flagship site for its London estate.
“We have some exciting plans for this great building,” continued George, “which include the installation of a brewery and the development of a pub offering that will be worlds apart from what has gone before.”
Chairman, Gary Pettet, commenting on the lease agreement with Enterprise Inns said, “Given the level of interest in the site, we are pleased that our proposal and the subsequent negotiations have resulted in InnBrighton being offered a free-of-tie lease on terms that satisfy all parties. Enterprise will also be making an investment in the building along with us, and we expect that the re-launched pub will be a credit to both our businesses and a unique addition to the West London pub scene, of which Acton residents can similarly be proud.”
Work has already begun on the extensive re-fit and there is a provisional opening date of 1 November.