Nightcap builds property pipeline

Nightcap plc, the hospitality group co-founded by investor Sarah Willingham, has released its interim results for the period to 31 December 2020, reporting progress in building a property pipeline for the London Cocktail Club (LCC), its first acquisition. 

While all of LCC’s 10 venues currently remain closed in line with government restrictions, Nightcap has said it has has made "good progress" with lease negotiations and is now poised for significant growth.

The business, which spoke exclusively with Pub & Bar in January after its IPO on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, is currently in negotiations on several new leases inside and outside of London, with an ambition to grow LCC from the current 10 locations to approximately 40 over the next five years.

"In line with our expectations, the damage done to the property and hospitality sectors by the pandemic is giving us access to new sites in prime locations with lower rents, increased incentives and lower capital costs per site than previously experienced," explains Willingham. "Given this, we are confident in our ability to provide even better returns on our capital employed than historically."

From the inception of the group in September 2020 to 31 December 2020, the company was essentially a cash shell, as its acquisition of LCC did not complete until 13 January 2021, the same day of its IPO. Nightcap has said it is now in a strong cash position, with £3.75m as at 28 February 2021.

"Our mission and the reason for establishing Nightcap has not changed," adds Willingham. "We want to grow LCC, especially beyond London, and we need to find more great businesses with strong and motivated leadership teams, which perhaps now lack the capital to expand and release their growth potential."

You can read Pub & Bar's interview with the Nightcap founder here.