SBE boss reveals UK brand expansion and investment plans

Sam Nazarian, founder and chief executive of SBE Entertainment Group, has insisted the group remains committed to the UK with plans to launch more of its brands here as well as invest into its current portfolio.

The group, which operates the St Martins Lane and Sanderson hotels in London, has plans in motion to bring its SLS brand to London and is expected to announce the first site in the first or second quarter of next year.

Speaking to The Caterer, Nazarian said: “We really feel that the UK market continues to be a perfect target for us to deploy more of our brands.”

He added: “Our partnership with Accor has enabled us to have a real strong footing in London,” referring to the French hospitality group’s 50% acquisition of SBE last year in a £244m deal, “that has really opened us up to unbelievable developers and property owners that want our brands.”

He said the group is in the process of looking at four or five Accor hotels in the UK which would be “great homes for our F&B brands”.

Meanwhile, he also revealed the Sanderson in Fitzrovia is set to undergo a “comprehensive renovation” in 2020 which will “touch every area” and reposition the property, as well as bring SBE’s Katsuya sushi restaurant concept to the hotel. More details will be revealed in the first quarter of 2020, but Nazarian also confirmed the plan is to grow the Sanderson brand in Europe.

He said the ambition is to have “a huge presence within all of the UK” and for all of its hotel brands to be represented within Greater London. Its portfolio of brands includes SLS Hotels & Residences, Mondrian, the House of Originals (under which the Sanderson and St Martins Lane fall), Delano, Hudson, Hyde Hotels & Residences and the Redbury Hotels.

SBE Entertainment Group previously operated the Sea Containers hotel on the South Bank under its Mondrian brand until January, when the management agreement ended. Nazarian added that he could “100%” see the Mondrian brand returning to London.