Oxford’s leading cocktail bar operator has bought his second site in the city with the purchase of the Sahara cocktail bar and restaurant.
The business in Wheatsheaf Yard, Blue Boar Street – essentially, a small alleyway just 100 years off the High Street – was acquired in February 2006 by Sahara Bars, which operates another venue under the same name in Reading.
The new owner, Julian Rosser, runs the Duke of Cambridge in Little Clarendon Street, which has served as the city’s leading cocktail bar for more than 25 years.
The three-storey building can accommodate up to 120 customers across the 50-seat ground floor cocktail bar and the 70-seat first floor restaurant. Another 40 guests can be seated in the decked courtyard terrace outside.
The Milton Keynes office of Christie + Co sold the remainder of the 10-year, free-of-tie leasehold (which started in August 2003) off a guide price in the region of £35,000. Annual rent is currently £45,000.
By Angela Frewin