Inception Group secures £6.7m loan to support expansion

22 May 2023 by
Inception Group secures £6.7m loan to support expansion

Inception Group, which operates bar brands such as Mr Fogg's, Control Room B and Cahoots, has received a £6.7m loan from OakNorth Bank to aid expansion.

The 13-strong bar, restaurant and club group based in central London was founded in 2009 by Charlie Gilkes and Duncan Stirling.

It also received refinance and expansion support from OakNorth in January 2018 and throughout the pandemic.

The group's post-pandemic openings include Control Room B in London's Battersea Power Station, Mr Fogg's Apothecary in London's Mayfair and Mr Fogg's Pawnbrokers in London's Soho.

It is set to relaunch the London Gin Club as Mr Fogg's Hat Tavern and Gin Club.

Gilkes said: "Over the years, we've built an incredibly collaborative relationship with the team at OakNorth – they understand our business and have continued to be a trusted funding partner through the challenging times of both the pandemic and the current cost-of-living crisis.

"With their support, we've been able to open several new sites, including Control Room B at Battersea Power Station which has exceeded our expectations in terms of performance. With this capital, we'll be able to open additional sites and continue bringing our unique bars and restaurants to London's residents and visitors."

Deepesh Thakrar, senior director of debt finance at OakNorth Bank, added: "Charlie and Duncan are great examples of the extraordinary entrepreneurs we have in the UK. They have built a creative and unique business under six different brands – all of which continued to trade throughout the pandemic."

OakNorth Bank launched in September 2015 and has since lent over £9.5b.

The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking