Hotbox arrives in Brixton ahead of bricks and mortar return

The group, which currently operates concessions within Market Halls’ Victoria and Oxford Street food halls, will take over three units within the South London shipping container food court including an outdoor terrace space that will house a barbecue smoker.

As well as a full-service restaurant holding 50 covers there will be a unit dedicated to grab-and-go, which will operate under an offshoot brand called Hawker by Hotbox.

It comes after Restaurant​ revealed back in April​​ that Hotbox had launched a £1.5m fundraise to return to the expansion trail after a troubled few years.

Hotbox started out life as a street food trader with residencies at Street Feast’s Dalston Yard, Battersea Park, Dinerama, Hawker House and Lewisham’s Model Market.

The group launched its first permanent restaurant in Spitalfields in 2014, but was forced to close​​ in early 2022 after its investors pulled out of the business.

It was subsequently sold to financier Adhum Carter Wolde-Lule.

In a statement provided to Restaurant​, Wolde-Lule said that the fundraise had ‘been slower than expected’, but had raised around £600,000 and would remain open until the end of the year.

The money will be used to finance the group’s return to bricks and mortar, with Wolde-Lule having now secured a site on Scrutton Street in Shoreditch with an aim to open in May 2025.

Openings in Soho and Covent Garden, which were mooted in April, have not progressed, although Wolde-Lule adds that the latter is still in the offing.