Clapham House rolls out Bombay Bicycle Club

Clapham House Group, the company set up last year by two former directors of PizzaExpress, is to open a new Bombay Bicycle Club restaurant in Hampstead, north London, this autumn.

The restaurant, currently under construction, will be the first to open since Clapham House acquired the Bombay Bicycle Club brand in April for an initial £1.85m.

Four further properties are under offer and with lawyers.

Acquisition of the Bombay Bicycle Club followed Clapham House's purchase of the Real Greek restaurant group in December 2003.

It opened a Real Greek Souvlaki & Bar on London's South Bank in early July and says this outlet "has traded excellently in its initial weeks."

Both the Real Greek and Bombay Bicycle Club were trading ahead of expectations, the company told its annual general meeting today.

Clapham House added that it was still involved in talks about further acquisitions and was "confident that one of these will become the company's third platform format."

It is also in negotiations to buy packages of suitable properties in which to open new restaurants.

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