The company behind a favourite pre-club venue in Birmingham has announced plans to expand the franchise across the West Midlands.
The Bar Leisure Group is investing £3.5 million in a new Indi bar in Wolverhampton following the success of its namesake at the Arcadian in Birmingham’s Chinatown.
The bar, which the owners hope will create up to 80 jobs, will then be followed with a new operation in Stratford with a view to growing to up to 30 outlets in the future.
The bar will open on the corner of Lichfield Street and Princess Street at the end of October. The first phase will be a café bar launched while work continues until Spring 2011 on the rest of the five-storey venue comprising a night club, and members’ bar, lounge bar, restaurant and café bar, as well as private-hire areas.
The self-financed venture has been designed by Tibbetts Kirk Abel, the team responsible for the King’s Head and Indi Bar in Birmingham, and is aimed at attracting the city’s business community during the day for meetings and networking events.
Operations director for the Bar Leisure Group, Budh Sidhho, said: “Wolverhampton is a thriving city and we’re confident Indi Bar will be a popular place to meet, eat and drink.
“The business market is a very important one – Wolverhampton is a hub, and we’re keen to establish ourselves as the venue of choice for that market, be it a networking breakfast, a business lunch or a convenient spot to meet clients. Designed with that in mind, Indi Bar will have stylish décor and excellent quality food and drink.
“We’re ambitious. We plan to open 30 sites over the next five years, starting in the Midlands and moving further afield.
“When Wolverhampton is completed, we plan to launch Indi Bar in Stafford. We’ll then begin to buy and develop new sites and acquire existing sites across the UK to turn Indi Bar into a flourishing success story.”
