Imbiba to open 65,000 square-foot hospitality and leisure venue in Canary Wharf: Serial sector investor Imbiba has agreed a deal with the Canary Wharf Group (CWG) to open a 65,000 square-foot hotel, restaurant and music venue at 12 Bank Street. The building in the heart of Canary Wharf will open in 2025 housing several Imbiba-backed brands including a 78-bedroom House of Gods Hotel, a new Amazing Grace music venue, a rooftop bar overlooking Eden Dock, and a new events facility to be operated by Camm & Hooper. House of Gods will oversee the rooftop bar, while the Canary Wharf site will be the second opening from K&G Hospitality for its Amazing Grace concept, which currently operates a site in London Bridge. The new venue is located adjacent to the new Eden Dock – providing access to the water and green spaces designed to enhance biodiversity at Canary Wharf. Stuart Fyfe, managing director of retail, leisure and hospitality at CWG, said: “Imbiba will deliver a spectacular new 65,000 square-foot hospitality and leisure venue at Canary Wharf. Their line-up of world class brands will further enrich the provision of evening entertainment, provide event venues, and bring another hotel to the Wharf. We continue to enhance the offer at Canary Wharf across retail, leisure, hospitality and competitive socialising to curate a thriving seven-day destination for all those who work, live and visit the wharf. Visitors to Canary Wharf are at an all-time high, 7.5% up year to date compared with 2023, which saw 67.2 million visitors and we continue to see strong demand across our retail, leisure and hospitality offer with 97% occupancy.” Kieran Sherlock, partner and property director at Imbiba, said: “Imbiba has a long-standing and very successful partnership with CWG, which this investment seeks to build on further. Canary Wharf is becoming a world-class destination for hospitality and leisure. We cannot wait to bring our exciting and cutting-edge concepts to this truly remarkable building in the very heart of Canary Wharf.” Imbiba currently backs sector companies including Farmer J, Pizza Pilgrims, F1 Arcade, 1Rebel, Little Houses Group, Clays, and House of Gods. A new report has been produced by Propel on the fast-growing experiential leisure sector. The report profiles the current shape of the experiential leisure market – including brands, estate size, trading type and geographical location and future trends. It provides a detailed list of UK experiential leisure companies including key staff and Companies House information. The report includes more than 180 companies, 3,500 sites and a 35,000-word report. The report is available to Premium Club members. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription.

Star Pubs opens 200th managed site, lfls up 4.2% year to date: Heineken-owned Star Pubs has opened the 200th site under its Just Add Talent managed operator model, and said that the division, which currently makes up 8% of its pub estate, has seen like-for-like sales up 4.2% in the year to date. The company, which is on track to reach 260 Just Add Talent pubs by the end of 2027, invested £350,000 on the reopening of The Hesketh in Cheadle Hulme, near Stockport. The pub has reopened as a family friendly neighbourhood local after an 18-month closure. Star Pubs said that six of its Just Add Talent conversions of leased and tenanted sites were, like The Hesketh, pubs that had previously been long-term closed. The Just Add Talent model contracts with operators for them to provide management services to run Star’s pub in return for a weekly fixed revenue percentage and an uncapped quarterly 20% profit share with an in-going cost of £4,000, of which £3,000 is a refundable deposit. The Hesketh is a “premium local”, one of three different Just Add Talent styles of pub; the others being “community” and “high street”. Each pub category is determined by its location, its amenities, and its customer profile. Mick Howard, operations director at Star Pubs, said: “Our trading figures, up 4.2% this year to date, are proof that Just Add Talent pubs resonate with pub-goers. Mainly based in suburban and estate locations, and offering sports, live entertainment and often food, they give communities a great British pub on their doorstep. We invest heavily in upgrading facilities and introducing live sports and it's paying off. We had a great Euros. We also keep the Just Add Talent offer fresh, evolving menus and offering premium drinks in keeping with consumer trends, to ensure good returns for operators. We’re primarily a leased and tenanted business and will continue to be so, however, the managed operator market is very attractive to those wanting to run a pub – 30% of all our applicants are for Just Add Talent pubs even though they only make up 8% of our estate.”