Principle Leisure announce Teesside investment

Nov 13 2009 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette

NORTH-east bar and restaurant group Principle Leisure, the £10m-turnover firm that rebranded last week from Aquaclear, heralded major expansion plans by announcing a £330,000 investment in the Tees Valley.

The new venue on Guisborough’s Westgate - the first of several planned for Redcar and Cleveland district - will be operated as a partnership between Principle and two as yet unnamed North-east investors - neither of which have any experience in the leisure trade, said MD Stuart Young.

He said the limited liability partnership with two "high profile" businessmen set up to fund Principle’s new Tees Valley division had been forced on the firm by the banks’ clampdown on lending. "We knew it would be unlikely that they would fund a development like this in the way they would have done a year or two ago, so we have gone for the option of equity partners rather than battle to the death with banks to get the money," said Mr Young.

The company behind a string of successful, individually branded outlets on Tyneside, including Popolo, Blue Coyote, San Lorenzo and CafeAntipasto, also announced the launch of a new outdoor events arm, Popolo Events.

"The new events division adds another string to our bow," said Mr Young. "We are looking to move our production to a trading site with storage, distribution, production and perhaps a retail unit for restaurant quality food for those working on the estate."

He said the company, which also has outlets in Sheffield and recently acquired CAST, part of the Nottingham Playhouse, would remain a North-east firm and was looking to "fill in the bits in the middle".

He said the current economic climate provided "opportunities for the brave".

"I get a terrific number of places that come across my desk on a weekly basis, but we have never been able to find a site on Teesside before for what we wanted to do," said Mr Young.

The new venue, in a derelict former video store, has yet to be named, but would be a "chameleon", catering as much for "grannies who want to come in for a cup of tea" as young clubbers who could take advantage of a late-night licence and a roof terrace, said Mr Young, who hopes to be open by Easter.

Principle is one of the first companies to benefit from a £1m European Union regeneration grant for Guisborough, the first stage of which is to encourage businesses to improve facades.