National expansion secures £50m revenue for bar and restaurant group

A Leeds-based bar and restaurant famous for its theatrical cocktails, is on track to achieve revenues of £50m at the end of the financial year.

Founded in 2010, The Alchemist was originally established in Manchester before opening in Leeds and London. The company was backed by private equity firm Palatine in May 2015 which has since continued to support the business’s bosses, led by managing director Simon Potts, on its national expansion.

Since Palatine’s investment, The Alchemist has grown its portfolio of 15 venues, launching into regional cities, as well as expanding its footprint in London.

This has helped turnover increase from £11.3m at the time of the investment to the £50m now forecast in the year to March 2020. Staff numbers have jumped during this period, from 200 employees to over 900.

The company launched its 16th venue in Shoreditch at the end of May, bringing the total number of sites in the capital to three. There are a further four sites in the pipeline.

Alongside the national expansion, Palatine has supported The Alchemist’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts.

The firm helped implement the ‘Currency of Kindness’ programme, which allows employees to take paid-leave to volunteer for one of eight charities. The scheme has helped The Alchemist secure a spot in the Sunday Times’ ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ for the past three years.

Other initiatives include the ‘War on Straws’, which has helped prevent two million single use plastic straws going to landfill every year, and the ‘Pound on the Bill’ campaign, which raised £37,000 for 13 different charities during the winter by adding a discretionary £1 contribution to every bill.

Potts, said: “Although we had a brilliant concept when Palatine first backed us, we only operated three sites.

“Working with private equity has really enabled us to achieve scale and build an infrastructure that supports a business of our size. Our growth has been very much down to identifying high performing sites across the big regional cities and establishing a presence in the capital, which has put the brand in front of an international audience.

“A global expansion has always been an ambition for the management team, and we will be targeting overseas opportunities in the next few years.

“Working with Palatine has been an incredible journey so far.”

Gary Tipper, managing partner at Palatine Private Equity and non-executive director at The Alchemist, added: “Having a solid concept is one of the fundamentals in the hospitality sector.

“It’s not a case of just opening your doors – you need to have a proposition that the customer wants to engage with and that’s what makes The Alchemist stand out.”

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