There are a certain sixty-two funky bars and eating spots scattered across the UK, all slightly different in appearance, but all very popular in their own right. Despite their unique selling points, they all belong to the same corporate family, under the umbrella company Revolution Bars Group. Established in 1991 as Inventive Leisure, the business opened its first Revolution-branded bar in Manchester in 1996, which marked the beginning of a movement for the organisation. By 2000, it had twenty-two bars under its belt and was floated on the Alternative Investment Market. Then, six years later it was bought out by Alchemy and became a private enterprise once again.
In 2011, the first Revolución de Cuba-branded bar was opened in Sheffield, to complement the existing Revolution offering, and over the next three years the number of bars swelled to a total of fifty-eight locations.
Last year it floated on the London Stock Exchange, and continues to roll out its bars across the country. Mark McQuater was appointed as CEO in 2013 and has been leading the group forward ever since. He says the IPO in 2015 was a major highlight for the company as it allowed him and his peers to reflect on just how much Revolution Bars Group had achieved.
“The whole team turned up at 8am to ring the bell. We were able to look back and share all of the hard work, while recognising the imagination, new ideas, and innovation that had happened throughout the journey,” says Mark. “I think it was great for everyone to share and to be able to say: ‘We’ve got the company to this stage, what more can we do with it?’”