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Cream rising to the top
Nightclub entrepreneur launches bar brand
THE FOUNDER of Liverpool’s Cream nightclub is to open a chain of barrestaurants around the country in a £15m venture. James Barton has teamed up with Rob Gutmann’s Lyceum Restaurant Group to launch Baby Cream bars.
The first will open in September at Liverpool’s Albert Dock, followed within a year by one in Manchester, with further sites planned in Leeds and Swansea.
The entrepreneurs hope to establish nine Baby Cream venues. Barton said: "After two years of planning, it’s very exciting to be announcing this new development for the Cream brand. Baby Cream promises to inject something new and fresh into the market."
He created Cream as an underground dance club 10 years ago and although the nightclub in Liverpool closed last year, Cream continues to stage music events and produce records.
Rob and Mike Gutmann founded the Lyceum Group in 1993. The group operates restaurants, café bars, a private members’ club, and the Taste brasserie at the Tate Gallery North, in Liverpool.
Baby Cream bars are set to feature cutting-edge music, live slots from top DJs and a lounge bar for private functions.
Soul Shakers
TWO CELEBRATED young London bartenders have set up their own cocktail company, called Soul Shakers, to provide training for the trade. Michael Butt and Giles Looker (pictured) demonstrated their mixing skills at the recent Bar Show in London and have been employed by Finlandia and Southern Comfort to promote awareness of their products in training sessions across the UK.
Butt, who set up the bar operation at The Elbow Room in Leeds and worked with Dale DeGroff at the Match Bar Group, has recently been named bartender of the year by Theme magazine.
His business partner Looker re-opened The Player in Soho and managed London’s Sosho nightclub. He says: "We have a back-to-basics approach to cocktail training. We really enjoy creating quality drinks and aim to convey that enthusiasm to the people we train."
You can catch them shaking their thangs this August at the Finlandia tent at The Big Chill music festival.