Jongleurs on track for 20 clubs

Jongleurs is on track to have 20 comedy clubs across the UK by the end of next year.

The company has also confirmed that it is pressing ahead with plans to turn the former Home nightclub in London's Leicester Square into a vast venue including comedy clubs, bars and a nightclub.

Work on the project has been delayed by planning wrangles, but parent company Regent Inns says it expects the site to be open sometime next year.

Jongleurs currently has 13 venues across the UK, with sites in Leeds and Reading due to open later this year. A franchise in Majorca has also just been announced.

News of Jongleurs' expansion comes in a trading statement issued ahead of Regent's financial year end.

Sales across its brands - which includes the Walkabout pubs and Bar Risa - has been as good as expected, with good beer sales during the World Cup offsetting a slow time in May.

However, the bottom line will be worse than City expectations because of rising costs, including a £1million hike in insurance premiums.

The company is selling 20 of its unbranded pubs to Wizard Inns in a £28million deal to help its fortunes - and pave the way for the opening of the new Jongleurs clubs.

Chief executive Stephen Haupt said: "I am pleased that we are well on our way to the completion of the reshaping of the group into the UK's leading operator of entertainment-led, branded venues."

Published: 19 Jun 2002