The Columbo Group is a hospitality and entertainment company that maintains various properties; nightclubs, live music venues and restaurants. The company's portfolio includes The Blues Kitchen, The Camden Assembly, The Jazz Cafe, The Old Queen's Head, Metropolis, Phonox and XOYO.
History
The group's founding directors are Steve Ball and Riz Shaikh, both of whom were included in the "Top 1000 Most Influential" list by The Evening Standard in 2014 and 2015. The two went into business and opened their first site, The Old Queens Head, in 2006, followed by Paradise by way of Kensal Green, Love and Liquor in Kilburn, and XOYO. The Columbo Group launched The Nest in Dalston on 14 October 2010. In January 2014, the group purchased The Cat and Mutton on Broadway Market and Bar Music Hall in Shoreditch. The latter was transformed into a second site for the groups Blues Kitchen concept in April 2014. The purchase of Electric Social in Brixton was announced by the group in April 2015. It reopened as the third Blues Kitchen outpost in October 2015. The Blues Kitchen went on to win the ALMR, Dusk 'Till Dawn award for 'Best Food Offer 2015' that same month. Brixton club Plan B was acquired by the group in July 2015 and relaunched as nightclub Phonox. MAMA & Company’s former venue, The Jazz Cafe, was sold to The Columbo Group in January 2016, and reopened following refurbishment on 24 May 2016. June 2016, they acquired ownership of The Barfly, It was relaunched on 14 September 2016 as The Camden Assembly. Sunfall Festival, held 9 July 2016 at Brockwell Park to a crowd of 11,000, marked the launch of the group's first owned and operated festival. The 2016 line-up included performances by Jamie XX, Goldie, Joy Orbison, Kamasi Washington, Mind Against, and Zomby. The festival received positive reviews. In April 2018, they acquired the freehold of The Blues Kitchen Brixton. In January 2019, the company took over the Metropolis Club in Bethnal Green, a night club that currently hosts queer nights Dollar Baby Club and Savage Disco, from the team behind Sink The Pink and Mighty Hoopla. In February 2019, they launched the inaugural Maiden Voyage Festival, taking place on August Bank Holiday Sunday at Three Mills Island in Stratford. The lineup, put together by The Jazz Cafe includes Awesome Tapes From Africa, Bradley Zero, Charlotte Dos Santos, Gilles Peterson, Illa J, Louis Cole, Madlib, Nabihah Iqbal, Roy Ayers, Steam Down and Zakia.
