Incipio Group eyes new openings after Pergola Paddington closure

Incipio Group, the operator behind London venues such as Pergola Paddington, has said it remains committed to bigger sites and hinted at plans for a new Pergola “by the end of the year”.

Anthony Knight, sales and marketing director at Incipio Group, told The Caterer the brand is still keen to secure big venues as they provide a “return investment” despite significant overheads.

He was speaking ahead of the closure of Pergola Paddington on 20 January, which the company said was due to the end of the lease rather than “external factors”.

The 25,000sq ft space, which is spread across two floors and has a capacity for 900 people, was Incipio’s largest site to date.

Its next biggest venue is Pergola on the Wharf in Canary Wharf, which has a capacity for 700.

Knight said: “What makes an Incipio venue special and successful is the bigger sites where we can bring in a crowd. Yes, they are harder to operate, they are a lot more expensive to operate – which is a consideration with the rising costs – and it’s more expensive to staff them, but if you get that magic source of great location, a really strong offering and a loyal customer base, bigger sites allow us to activate special events.”

He added: “We’re finding that people are more willing to buy tickets to spend their money on special occasions, and as a rule of thumb in order to generate a return investment you need a good number of people to be able to justify what can be quite expensive in design and decoration costs.

“Pergola Paddington was more akin to a sort of festival bar. On a busy Saturday we could have up to 2,500 people going through it and that’s quite substantial. Our average booking size there was 10 to 12 people compared to our other venues, where it’s more like 5 or 6.”

Knight said Incipio is continuing to look at new opportunities, including “a new Pergola by the end of the year”.

“We’re just looking at where that could be in London, so we’re quite excited about that,” he added.

He said the group is also working closely with the landlord of a new development to “create new concepts”, with further announcements due in 2025.

Incipio Group opened its first site in 2015 and has since grown to nine sites, with venues such as Lost in Brixton, Palm House and the 411.