As Phil Rees Roberts comments in his space on this site it seems to be the time of year when everybody is organising Christmas parties. Several hundred of us from Weightmans Liverpool office recently headed down to the Crowne Plaza later for ours.
I’m glad to see Phil supporting the venue of a long time client of mine Rob Gutmann and his Korova Corporation venue – Geisha which we recently acquired in Myrtle Street. My personal favourites are the simply stunning Circo in the Albert Dock and Negresco in Lark Lane which has a habit of taking me back to my student days and times spent in Keith’s Wine Bar, The Masonic Pub (now Negresco) and the Alhouette.
I was introduced to Rob 10 years ago when we were both relatively young men, Rob still is however I’m a tad older.
It brings me back to a theme that I had in the early months of this blog and trends that repeat themselves over time and sometimes we return to where things started.
The first of Rob’s acquisitions which we were involved in was Blue at the Albert Dock followed quickly by Baby Blue then Pan Am run under the Lyceum Brand and subsequently all sold together. The unique concept of Baby cream followed in conjunction with James Barton and Cream, with sites in Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester & Swansea speedily acquired.
The most unusual site we acquired for Rob has to be St Peters Church which thanks to some help from our friends at Urban Splash was transformed into Alma de Cuba. Exhumation of burial grounds and an incredible history of the Church made the rediscovery and preservation of these premises the subject of great interest and discussion. This was followed by a further exponent of the Alma Brand – Alma de Santiago in Penny Lane. Both of the Alma premises were sold at a peak in their popularity.
Then came the Negresco theme, born in Lark Lane and grown through three pub acquisitions in Woolton Village - The Elephant, The Baby Elephant and the Coach & Horses. These are all pubs I frequented in my teenage years after leaving Liverpool College (of course) and are now operating as Negresco Deco, Casa Del Cocodrillo and Fargo Liverpool. These were followed by another acquisition in Manchester this year - The Pig & Porcupine, which will be opening soon and called Negresco Nord, located in a classic Deansgate location close to the new Hilton Hotel.
Bringing us back to date we did Geisha and most recently Circo who need no introduction. Further acquisitions in Liverpool One and other parts of town are planned, so watch this space!
Phil, I hope you have a good party. Cheers also to Rob a thoroughly original entrepreneur and a great client and friend, not only of mine but of my firm.