Style Bar gains big new deal

2:28pm Saturday 15th March 2008

Otley-based pub company Suburban Style Bar Co has added eight properties to its estate following the completion of a £1.6 million funding package.

The investment by Allied Irish Bank (GB) means the Yorkshire company will be able to expand over the Pennines for the first time.

Suburban Style Bar Co has bought eight free-of-tie freehold pubs and two free-of-tie leaseholds - more than doubling its portfolio overnight.

With its existing brands - Suburban Style Bar and Drinkers' Delight - the business now has 15 outlets, including bars in Bingley, Baildon and Otley.

It employs about 90 staff and its turnover in 2006/7 was £5.3m.

Andy Longman, Suburban Style Bar Co managing director, said: "Following a strategic review at the end of last summer it was decided that to take the company forward we needed to diversify our existing portfolio, as opposed to just relying on a single brand.

"These ten new businesses take us further into West Yorkshire as well as, for the first time, South Yorkshire and Greater Manchester.

"We have always set high standards across our Suburban Style Bar estate, and we are always looking at ways to improve ourselves, and with these acquisitions we are looking at carrying that strategy across.

"All the new sites will be keeping their existing identity, although several will receive considerable investment to enable a refurbishment programme."

The first Suburban Style Bar was opened in Horsforth eight years ago.

The ethos behind the company was to bring to the suburbs a similar level of drinking experience already being enjoyed by people in the centres of Bradford and Leeds, while also being a good quality local.

Mark Beedel, of law firm Lupton Fawcett, which acted on behalf of Suburban, said: "Suburban Style Bar Co is an exciting business with tremendous growth potential."

Philip Hartley, corporate banking manager at AIB, said: "Andy Longman and his team have proved themselves to be excellent operators over the last few years, and with AIB's financial backing we believe that the Suburban strategy for moving the business forward will be a successful one."

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