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The Alchemist eyes up Dubai
UK-based cocktail bar chain The Alchemist will reportedly open a venue in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this year.
In what is a further sign of the Middle East opening up to Western tourists, and investment, The Alchemist, known for the flamboyant, Instagram-friendly presentation of its cocktails, is set to break into the region.
Simon Potts, CEO of The Alchemist, told hospitality newsletter Propel Info: “Over the last 12 months, we’ve been looking at ways of activating The Alchemist further afield; utilising the well-established brand credentials we’ve developed here in the UK to work with a franchise partner and deliver our theatrical cocktails on a new continent. We’re now in the final legal stages of that process and expect to open a first venue in Dubai in 2025.”
Dubai is becoming a target for cocktail bars, with Caprice Holdings choosing the ultramodern, rapidly-expanding city as the location for its fourth global location of Sexy Fish, which opened at the end of last year.
In the same interview with Propel, Potts also confirmed that, following the arrival of The Alchemist in Berlin last year, there are also now plans to open a second location in the German capital.
Having launched in Manchester in 2010, The Alchemist currently has 23 locations across the UK, as well as the one in Germany. In 2024, funds were secured to open a further 10 bars over the next few years, including a new site on Eastcheap, in the City of London, due to open at the end of this month.
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