Nightcap buys Dirty Martini bar group out of administration

Nightcap, the company led by ex-Dragon's Den investor Sarah Willingham, has purchased the Dirty Martini cocktail bar chain and its sister restaurant Tuttons out of administration in a £4.65m pre-pack sale.

The deal includes five Dirty Martini bars in London and five across Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Cardiff and Leeds.

Tuttons, a 202-cover British brasserie restaurant which has operated in Covent Garden for over 45 years and shares a kitchen with Dirty Martini Covent Garden, is also included in the sale.

Nightcap will pay £4.15m in cash on completion of the deal and a further £500,000 based on certain conditions being met.

In a trading update, the group said Dirty Martini's operator DC Bars Limited had struggled with "tough trading conditions" over the past year as well as "significant" debts which led to it falling into administration.

None of the debts will transfer to Nightcap except those which are required by law.

Nightcap said there was "significant potential" to roll out further Dirty Martini bars in key UK cities and that the brand provided a "complementary customer offering" for the group.

It is the fourth major acquisition in three years for Nightcap, which operates 40 UK bars after buying the Cocktail Club, Adventure Bar, and Barrio Familia bar groups in 2021.

Willingham said: "Dirty Martini's late-night bars operate in a similar way to ours. They have great bars in excellent locations with impressive fitouts, following over £10m of capital investment.

"With the acquisition of Dirty Martini, we have a sizeable late night bar group with significant potential for further growth in the years ahead and we therefore look to FY 2024 with increased confidence."

All staff working at the 10 Dirty Martini bars and Tuttons restaurant have been retained as part of the deal.

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