Imbiba

Imbiba invests exclusively in the UK leisure and hospitality sector, targeting growth-stage and buyout opportunities in high-street food, beverage, and experiential leisure concepts. The firm focuses on established operators with strong brand identities and proven unit-level economics, typically looking to scale across London and other major UK cities. Its portfolio has included bar and restaurant groups like Drake & Morgan and Darwin & Wallace.

Imbiba was founded by Simon Carson and John Connell, who previously served as founders and majority shareholders of Luminar Leisure Group, one of the UK's largest publicly traded nightclub operators. Their operational background in scaling multi-site leisure businesses informs Imbiba's hands-on investment approach. The pair brought both capital and direct management experience to the partnership.

Imbiba is one of the few UK private equity firms dedicated solely to leisure and hospitality, operating with deep sector specialization rather than a diversified mandate. Its founding partners built and exited a large public leisure company before forming the firm, giving them operator-level insight into site selection, brand development, and multi-site rollout. The firm structures its involvement to include significant operational support alongside capital.

Imbiba's investment activity is concentrated in the United Kingdom, with a particular emphasis on Greater London and key regional cities such as Manchester, Birmingham, and Edinburgh. There is no public record of the firm making direct investments outside the UK market. Its model relies on deep local knowledge of licensing, property, and consumer trends in British high-street hospitality.

The Imbiba Partnership is the firm's principal investment vehicle, through which it pools capital from institutional investors and family offices for deployment into leisure and hospitality businesses. The structure allows the firm to provide growth equity and acquisition financing to its portfolio companies. Specific fund sizes and limited partner details are not publicly disclosed.