Pubs Round-up

Eclipse to launch London restaurant
Eclipse Bar Ventures, which owns five bars and the Boujis nightclub in London and a bar in South Africa, will open its first restaurant on the site of the former L'Odeon in Regent Street, London, towards the end of the year.

The 200-seat restaurant and bar has a coveted 3am licence and will mark the first UK project for designer Stephane Dupoux, renowned for his work in New York, Miami and eastern Europe.

Barracuda opens in Scotland Managed pub company Barracuda will open its first pub in Scotland this summer, at a cost of £1.4m, marking its first assault on the Scottish market. The 6,000sq m freehold site will be a Smith & Jones branded pub, and will create 25 to 30 jobs.

Barracuda is looking at several other locations north of the border, including Dunfermline. Chief executive Mark McQuater confirmed that the company has £20m at its disposal for purchases.

Eldridge Pope results Eldridge Pope has warned that its preliminary results, due out at the end of May, are likely to be disappointing due to fierce high-street competition and sluggish food sales.

Sales at its 70-strong managed estate, which includes the Toad chain, were 5.6% down year-on-year for the 29 weeks to 24 April.

The board has reiterated that it will stick to its back-to-basics strategy in a bid to stabilise the business, but pub entrepreneur Michael Cannon fuelled takeover speculation last week (Caterer, 29 April) when he increased his holding in the company to 22.34%.