The Ivy in Bournemouth: Exclusive first look inside

And the pre-booking figures so far speak for themselves: more than 12,000 bookings have been made from the opening on November 12 to February 12. 

“Bournemouth’s bookings have been considerably higher than Winchester or Chichester’s opening,” The Ivy’s general manager Barnaby Harris-Reid said. 

The Echo was invited for a first look at the most anticipated restaurant in Bournemouth in recent years – the 42nd for the high-end chain. 

(Image: The Ivy)

(Image: The Ivy) (Image: The Ivy)

Coming to Bournemouth has been a long process.

Initial talks within the business happened nearly three years ago, with the former New Look unit in the Square snatched up “pretty soon after” it shut shop. 

Bosses have also been on a huge recruitment drive, employing 142 staff and more than the 120 initially targeted. 

Barnaby has reassured residents The Ivy will not just be another restaurant on the high street from a big chain. 

“We deliver something as an employer and high-end standards in a beautiful high-end environment with the heart of a local restaurant, delivered like an independent even though we are a big corporate chain. 

“Over the past few weeks, we have been getting to know the community, for example to Bournemouth BID, Paul Kinvig and his team have had a lot of communication. 

“And we’re looking at charity work as well – over the next couple of weeks we will pinpoint key charities that we want to work with.” 

Barnaby Harris-Reid (Image: Daily Echo)

Naturally, there have been concerns about how The Ivy will manage anti-social behaviour and drunkenness in the Square. 

Barnaby said The Ivy has employed security for weekends, with the possibility of expanding their shifts to throughout the week if need be. 

He said: “We don't have all the answers right now, but we think that we are a natural deterrent. 

"We will put some security in place, we've trained our reception team very well and we've been very transparent with them that there will be some undesirable people that try and come through that door that we are going to have to turn away like we do in all restaurants.  

“Look, we've got restaurants everywhere in all big cities, we have restaurants in Covent Garden, we have 15 restaurants in central London.  

“This is not the first time we've had to deal with these kind of situations. There will be a bit of learning but I'm not overly worried.” 

(Image: The Ivy) (Image: The Ivy)

With places such as Covent Gardens, Oxford city centre and Exeter, why has The Ivy chosen Bournemouth? 

“When we pick locations, we look at look at the surrounding areas and whether the area could benefit from it," he said.

“Obviously where we open our restaurants, we look at the town’s footfall even though we are a destination restaurant where people will travel to The Ivy, we are the occasion. 

“Everything wraps around it; people come to us and then will go shopping. 

“But also at the same time, we want to be a local’s restaurant where people can just drop in. Our walk-in trade is so valuable to our business and we wouldn't be able to run our business without it. 

“Looking at our other restaurants – Winchester, Chichester, Guildford – we find that a lot of people will travel to us. So we are the destination for Dorset.” 

But the new restaurant won’t just benefit itself, Barnaby added. Because people see the restaurant as an ‘occasion’, he expects people from afar to come to Bournemouth, book a hotel, do some shopping. 

“If we’ve got 12,000 bookings before February, let’s say half of those don’t live in the town, realistically, the majority of them are not just going to drive to The Ivy and drive home.  

“Indirectly, it is going to bring business to the town.” 

In essence, the whole of Bournemouth town centre is set to benefit from The Ivy, possibly signalling the start of better times ahead.