Thu 31st Oct 2013 - Anglian to invest £1.3m in 'second' Hermitage Anglian to invest £1.3m in 'second' Hermitage: Anglian Country Inns, the award-winning operator of gastro-pubs and restaurants led by James Nye, is to invest around £1.3m in its second stand-alone restaurant site after the runaway success of its Hermitage Road venue, which opened in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, in November 2011. The site is the company’s busiest food and beverage venue, with annual turnover of around £2m, and is currently enjoying almost 20% like-for-like sales growth. It won a Bib Gourmand within eight months of opening and retained it this year. Anglian has now bought the freehold of the Waterlounge bar and restaurant in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, a former brewery building with a characterful beamed ceilings and a vaulted cellar, for around £1m. The company plans to close it for about five months to undertake a £300,000 refurbishment before re-opening it in early spring as the Water Lane Bar and Restaurant. Nye told Propel: “Bishop’s Stortford is a town we were targeting – it’s got great potential.” The Water Lane Bar and Restaurant will have a 100-cover restaurant and a downstairs cellar bar serving cocktails and craft beer. The food offer will replicate the Hermitage Road menu with the possible addition of pizza. Earlier this month, Propel reported that Anglian saw turnover and profit up in the year to 31 March. Turnover rose by 22% to £6.04m, driven by a “strong first full-year performance” at Hermitage Road. Pre-tax profit rose to £244,600 from £92,000 the year before. Ebitda for the most recent year was around £650,000. Executive chef Harry Kodagoda joined the board in February this year. The company said: “Operating margins have been maintained at the same levels as 2012 despite the continuing economic pressures, perhaps reflecting that the group’s target market is more resilient to the difficult economic times.” Its accounts show that its iconic White Horse in Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk was valued at £3m by Colliers International in March 2011. Earlier this month, the Good Hotel Guide awarded the White Horse a Cesar, given to the guide’s choice of the ten best hotels of the year, countrywide.