Young’s secures £30m deal for Cubitt House: Young’s has agreed a £30m deal to acquire London premium pub operator, Cubitt House. Sky News reports that Young’s is set to announce it is buying the collection of eight central London pubs, which is backed by funds managed by TDR Capital. An industry source said the deal was likely to cost in the region of £30m and be funded from Young’s existing cash resources. Cubitt House comprises well-known venues including The Thomas Cubitt, The Orange, The Alfred Tennyson, and The Grazing Goat. Its other sites are The Barley Mow, The Builders Arms, The Coach Makers Arms and The Princess Royal, with its eight sites situated in Belgravia, Chelsea, Marylebone, Mayfair and Notting Hill. The deal will come more than a decade after Young’s and Fuller’s lost out in a battle to buy Cubitt House when the group was last up for sale. A consortium of private investors led by TDR Capital partner Manjit Dale acquired a majority stake in the then four-strong Cubitt House in December 2015 for approximately £12m. Young’s is in the process of moving its shares from the junior AIM exchange to the main London market as it attempts to target a broader investor base. The company has expanded through acquisitions in recent years, most notably with the purchase of The City Pub Group in 2024, which added just over 50 pubs. It now comprises more than 275 sites across London and the south-east. Young’s has been contacted for comment. Propel reported earlier this week that Cubitt House was lining up a third site in Belgravia, as it looks to convert the former post office in Eccleston Street into The Duke of Connaught pub and hotel. The new pub wiould feature a bar on the ground and lower ground floors, a restaurant up on the first floor and ten boutique hotel rooms on the floors above that.

 

Premium Club subscribers to receive all 13 videos from Propel Multi-Club Conference on Friday: Premium Club subscribers will receive all 13 videos from the Propel Multi-Club Conference on Friday (10 April) at 9am. These include videos featuring Graeme Smith, managing director at AlixPartners; Dan Brookman, Airship and Toggle founder and chief executive; Maria Vanifatova, founder of Meaningful Vision; Nicc Wright, founder of Barbs; Phil Eeles, the Honest Burgers co-founder; Guy Ivesha, founder and chief executive of Maslow’s; Pano Christou, chief executive of Pret A Manger; Christobell Giles, managing director of Vagabond Wines; Mat Finch, managing director of Cornish Bakery; Russell Quelch, chief executive of Neos Hospitality; Markus Thesleff, founder and chief executive of the Thesleff Group; legendary London restaurateur Jeremy King; and John Vincent, co-founder and chief executive of Leon. Premium subscribers receive all the videos from Propel conferences each year – around 100 in total. A Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or supplier. A new Premium Unlimited Plus option, which costs £1,995 plus VAT per annum, has some amazing additional benefits including four free tickets to Propel’s paid-for conferences – Excellence in Pub & Bar (19 May), Operational Excellence (9 July) and Talent & Training (15 October) – and the opportunity to run one free sponsored message or situation vacant notice during the year on the newsletter. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.

 

German Doner Kebab hires former Costa Coffee and Chipotle MD as chair: German Doner Kebab (GDK), which is backed by private equity group True, has hired former Costa Coffee and Chipotle managing director Jim Slater as chair and a non-executive director. Slater spent eight years with Costa between 2008 and 2016, initially as global marketing director and then managing director Costa Enterprises, before taking on the role of managing director UK & Ireland from August 2014. After leaving Costa in September 2016, Slater spent eight years with Chipotle, first as managing director Europe, and then as chief international officer. GDK said Slater brings “a proven track record in building hospitality businesses”, with Chipotle growing to 3,500-plus restaurants during his tenure, while he oversaw Costa establishing clear market leadership in the UK and expanding into 30-plus new countries. Slater said: “GDK has been a stand-out success story in UK hospitality, and I look forward to helping the team drive further sustainable growth both in the UK and internationally in collaboration with our franchisees.” GDK chief executive Simon Wallis said: “It has been clear from day one that Jim shares our values and our vision for the business, and I am looking forward to working alongside him in the coming years.” Richard Sharpe, managing director at True, added: “Welcoming Jim as chair of GDK is an exciting moment for the brand as we continue to invest behind global growth.” True invested into GDK in 2025, alongside Hero Brands, to accelerate GDK’s growth across existing and new markets globally. In February, GDK said it expects to open 25 new sites in the UK this year, with longer-terms plans for 900 outlets worldwide. GDK operates via dozens of franchise partners, running 155 outlets in the UK and nearly 40 more overseas, including in the US, Dubai, Ireland and Sweden.