Barrio Bars plans expansion to five sites
Barrio Bars is to open its third site, Barrio East, in Shoreditch this month. Ahmed said the company is looking for potential outlets for Barrio South in Clapham and Barrio West in Notting Hill “to complete the points of the compass”.
The company already operates Barrio Central in Soho and Barrio North in Islington. “We currently have an option on a fourth site,” Ahmed said.
Expansion has so far been self-funded by Ahmed and the other directors, Sat Ghuman and Ani Kyriacou, but Ahmed said: “We have received interest from private equity firms and have held several talks.”
In terms of other avenues for the company, he added: “Having taken Barrio to Glastonbury last year, we’re also looking at festival, events, food and coffee spin-offs of the Barrio brand.” Barrio Bars was founded in 2007.
