OakNorth, the digital bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs, has provided a £15m loan to creative cocktail bar and restaurant group, The Alchemist, to support the roll-out of new sites and refinance existing debt.
Founded in Manchester in 2010, the group has successfully scaled to 23 sites across 12 major cities, including six in London, three in Manchester, and three across Scotland, in addition to opening its first overseas site in Berlin last year.
With the opening of its London Victoria branch in February 2024, the company’s reputation for its mastery of the dark arts and ‘molecular mixology’ has earned it industry awards, most recently ‘Best Beverage Offering’ at the 2023 Publicans Awards.
The company has been subsidized through Palatine, a leading private equity firm, since 2015, which focuses on making investments in middle-market companies through their purchase and has an impact on funds. Headquartered in Manchester with offices in London and Birmingham, Palatine has built strong relationships with marketers from a variety of industries, such as customer and leisure, money services, healthcare and education, and technology.
Simon Potts, CEO of The Alchemist, said, “Despite the well-known challenges facing the hospitality sector, we take pride in our unwavering commitment of growing our brand across the UK.
“Looking ahead, we have ambitions to roll out 10 new sites over the next 3 years, and OakNorth’s investment will be a key catalyst for this.
“This is the first time we have worked intensively with OakNorth after realizing their reputation for supporting experienced, cutting-edge pub and dining venue operators. Stewart and his team lived up to that reputation, providing a point of flexibility and transparency that simply wasn’t present through other lenders.
“With this capital, we will be able to open additional sites and continue bringing our unique cocktail bar and restaurants to more areas of the UK and overseas.”
Stewart Haworth, head of debt finance at OakNorth, added: “The Alchemist is a very productive example of the creativity that is being delivered lately by UK restaurant and bar operators.
“The organisation has earned an impressive reputation, with the control team providing experiential and theatrical food and drink throughout the day, in a variety of venues, as they prepare for expansion here in the UK and overseas.
“With the pub and bar sector set to experience significant expansion over the next five years, driven by a growing demand for craft spirits, the organisation is in a position to capitalise on this and look forward to visiting the new venues in the future. . . »
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