A NEW champagne and cocktail bar is set to replace the former Gordons venue in Cheap Street, Newbury.
Richard Hayman, aged 43, of Newbury, is one of three local businessmen to have gone into partnership on Monday (27) and become a 25-year leaseholder of a new bar and restaurant, to be named Montys.
Despite the current financial crisis, Mr Hayman has faith that the new venture will be successful and said it should be open for business on Thursday, November 13.
The building’s structure will not be altered and the inside decor is yet to be decided, but Mr Hayman, operations director of Montys, said he has already begun taking Christmas bookings.
“It will be cool and sophisticated but not pretentious,” he said of the new venue. “We’ll serve modern British food. There’ll be jazz and funky music and DJs possibly at weekends. We want to offer good service, good atmosphere, good food, good products and a good time. It is named after the son of one of the partners (both of whom he declined to name) and we just wanted something that didn’t reflect a theme.
“We’re fundamentally a bar rather than a restaurant.”
He said of the difficult market conditions: “It is a worry but I think if your product is good enough then people will come. Yes, times are hard, but they are not going to be hard forever.”
He believes Montys will complement other restaurants in the Market Place, serving as an alternative to the Italian themed pizza/pasta eateries, and anticipates that the new restaurants to be built in the Cheap Street cinema complex next year are more likely to serve pizzas and burgers, and so will not affect Montys’ trade.
Having lived in Newbury for 20 years and worked in hospitality locally, Mr Hayman says he has an advantage over other Newbury businesses.
He will continue to act as managing director of the Madagascan Gin Palace, Inches Yard, Newbury, which he has run for 14 years.
He also originally set up Bar Cuba, Saddlers Court, Newbury, in 1997 - and Bar Cuba venues in Swindon and Cheltenham - although pulled out of that business venture in 2003.
“I know the town, I drink in the town, I know the people in the town and I know what people want in the town,” he said. “It would be very different if this (Montys) was opening somewhere else because local knowledge is power,” he added.
Montys is expected to target customers aged 21 and over and will not charge an entry fee unless it is a special occasion.
It is also expected to hold a late licence until 3am.