Urban Pubs & Bars snaps up Salt Yard Group

Urban Pubs & Bars has acquired the entire Salt Yard Group of restaurants having bought the group's Opera Tavern site earlier this year.

Malc Heap, co-founder of Urban Pubs & Bars, said: “We have always been huge fans of Salt Yard Group and are consistently blown away by the quality of the offer and the teams. When the opportunity came along to take on the restaurants and their amazing teams, we didn’t think twice.

“All employees, including head office, will be staying on to help us grow this fantastic group of restaurants, with our plan to invest in the existing restaurants and to add a few more to the family over the coming years.”

Sanja Moll, co-founder of Salt Yard Group, said: “We are really pleased to hand over our much-loved restaurants to Malc and Nick. They are going to bring operational expertise as well as investment and take the group to the next level. We are excited for their future.”

Salt Yard Group was founded by Moll and Simon Mullins in 2005 with the opening of Salt Yard, and the group expanded to a collection of five restaurants. Chef-director Ben Tish left the group in March 2017 after 11 years, and has since been appointed culinary director at the Stafford hotel in London.

The group then closed its fifth restaurant, Veneta at St James’s Market, in December 2017 after only a year, as the location was “not quite right”, one month after Mullins’ departure from the group. The group has since been overseen by Moll and the group’s former HR director Georgina Laing.

Urban Pubs & Bars was formed by ex-Realpubs founders Nick Pring and Malcolm Heap in 2014. It has a portfolio of 17 pubs, bars and restaurants across London.

Salt Yard Group sells Opera Tavern to Urban Pubs and Bars >>

St James’s Market “not quite right” as Salt Yard Group announces Veneta closure >>

Small plates, big ideas: Simon Mullins and the Salt Yard Group >>

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