Kricket tees up fourth London site as it secures further funding

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Rik Campbell and Will Bowlby will launch a fourth restaurant under their modern-Indian brand Kricket next year in London’s Canary Wharf, alongside a second iteration of their SOMA bar concept.

The expansion plans come after the group secured a new round of funding from White Rabbit Projects (WRP), alongside additional funds from Campbell and Bowlby.

Opening in Canary Wharf’s North Dock in spring 2024, the new Kricket restaurant will have 85 covers and be open seven days a week for lunch and dinner.

The adjoining SOMA bar will mirror the minimalist design of its Soho counterpart, which launched back in 2021, with room for up to 50 guests and a license to open late.

Campbell and Bowlby founded Kricket as a pop-up in a shipping container at Pop Brixton back in 2015 and launched a permanent restaurant in Soho the following year after receiving an initial injection of funding from WRP.

Sites in Brixton and White City followed.

Alongside the restaurants, Kricket also runs a delivery-only concept via an exclusive partnership with Deliveroo that was launched in 2021 in response to the Coronavirus pandemic and continues to deliver 2,000 orders per week.

According to the group, Kricket’s restaurants and delivery business generated £7.3m in sales in 2022, with like-for-like sales up 17% on the prior year as of 30 September 2023.