Urban Pubs & Bars launches acquisition spree after strong Christmas sales
Urban Pubs & Bars has embarked on an aggressive acquisition spree as the London-based hospitality group toasted strong demand over the Christmas season.
This week the company announced it had acquired The Birdcage in East London from Brewdog, marking its sixth acquisition of 2026.
The deal follows the recent completion of five premium hospitality venues in January, including The Prince Regent in Herne Hill and a package of four established sites from Brunning & Price.
The Brunning & Price venues comprise The Roebuck and The Steam Packet in Chiswick, The Queens in Crouch End, and Coco Momo in Kensington.
Trading throughout December was significantly ahead of last year, with excellent like-for-like sales growth of 14.5 per cent and a 40 per cent increase in total covers.
“The energy across the business continues to be fantastic,” said Chris Hill, managing director of Urban Pubs & Bars.
The results compare favourably with those disclosed by the firm’s London-listed rivals.
London-listed hospitality giant Mitchells & Butlers – the operator of Nicholson’s Ember Inns, Toby Carvery and All Bar One – reported a 7.7 per cent jump in sales in the three weeks to 3 January, with the five-day “betwixtmas” period between Christmas Day and New Years Day performing especially strongly, up 10.5 per cent.
Overall, like-for-like sales in the 15 weeks to 10 January rose 4.5 per cent, with demand for food outpacing demand for drinks. Though that was slightly weaker than rivals Fullers, which saw like-for-like sales up 5.3 per cent.
Founded by Malc Heap and Nick Pring, Urban Pubs & Bars is backed by Davidson Kempner and Global Mutual. The firm is London’s largest independent pub company, comprising 66 sites
In its latest published accounts, the company posted turnover of £29.5m for the year to end April 2024, a rise of 27.4 per cent on the previous year, while pre-tax profit nearly doubled to £655,000.
Pubs under threat
The stellar results come as the hospitality sector warns of more pub closures ahead amid rising labour costs, continued inflation and soaring rates of tax.
The most at risk pubs in London have been revealed by a new website that calculates how proposed changes to business rates could affect the hospitality industry.
New website ismypubfucked.com uses official data from the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to identify which pubs will be most affected by the proposed increases to the business rates.
The “most fucked pub” in the capital is the Spread Eagle in Wandsworth, facing a £104,000 hike (+622 per cent). The Beaten Docket in Cricklewood, north west London is second in London with an “absolutely fucked” rating – it could see rates increase by £138,000 or 431 per cent. It’s followed by the Dog and Bell in Deptford, which is in 40th place on the overall leaderboard, with a potential rise of £74,000 equating to a 426 per cent rise. Fourth is the Wickham Arms in Brockley at number 45 with a potential £37,250 increase (+425 per cent).
There could be some respite for these pubs, with the government expected to change the way business rates are calculated, resulting in smaller rises to bills. But Is My Pub Fucked points out that rates are “just one pressure” on the hospitality industry, with rising wages, higher National Insurance, increased alcohol duty, soaring energy costs and decreased customer spending all contributing to the catastrophe.