Mon 18th Mar 2013 - Breaking News - McQuater - I want to take Inventive to the next level Mark McQuater – I want to take Inventive to the next level: The new chief executive of Inventive Leisure, Mark McQuater, who takes up his position tomorrow as the first external chief executive, has told Propel that he wants to take the business to the next level. “The next level is about getting a lot bigger. There are a number of acquisition opportunities. We’d clearly like to grow the business and it’s absolutely capable of growing a lot bigger although that is a two to three year view. The business is profitable. It’s got a premium position with a quality environment and things like table service – and a great culture.” McQuater said part of his brief involves putting more robust systems in place to allow expansion, drawing on his background in running bigger businesses. Turnover has risen to an annualised total of £115m at Inventive Leisure, up from £109m, in the year to June 2012. He said the departure of Ellis is “very amicable”. “He’s had a great run and will still be on the board and a large shareholder.” Inventive was founded in 1996 by Roy Ellis and Neil Macleod who opened the first Revolution Vodka Bar on Oxford Street in Manchester. The company has been in Sunday Times ‘Top 100 Companies’ for the last three years in a row. Macleod, who oversees the company’s marketing, is to continue in an operational role. Inventive Leisure has enjoyed success in the past two years with a second brand, Revolucion de Cuba, which is operated as a co-located offer at 13 vodka bars and at five stand-alone sites. McQuater told Propel that one of the recent co-located openings in Cambridge is “going great guns”. Ironically, the fifth stand-alone Revolucion de Cuba is a 10,000 square foot former Barracuda site in Derby. Ellis told Propel at the end of last year that there are “four or five sites” currently in legals. Ellis said its first four Revolucion de Cuba sites were performing in line with average site takings at vodka bars – around £35,000 per week of turnover each. The larger Manchester site occupies 15,000 square foot of trading space and is understood to take around £60,000 per week.