Drinking in the City

The Drake & Morgan (D&M) group is planning to open a fifth London bar in Bishopsgate later this year as the company continues its rapid expansion.

Set up in 2008 by Jillian MacLean, the group has gone from strength to strength. Considering the high number of bars and watering holes littering central London, it is interesting to note the success of MacLean’s group.

“Since the successful launch of The Folly and The Anthologist, both in the City, customers have been giving us some great feedback and we know there is scope to develop cutting edge bars in the Square Mile,” she explained.

The D&M group is still based in a small part of London with a specific demographic.

MacLean has plans to expand, and the question is whether her template of “trendy” bars with premium alcohol labels will hold up – showing that this particular format is a winning formula across London, or whether she’ll have to rethink her approach for other areas of London where the demographics will be different.

She will reveal how she gained such recognition in a saturated market at the drinks business fifth Annual Conference on Monday 28 February. For further details go to www.dbconference.co.uk

db, 21.02.2011