Vagabond’s new Brighton site will be second beyond London

By Oliver Catchpole

Published: 11 August, 2026

This autumn, Vagabond Wines is set to open a new location in Brighton’s Duke Street, its second bar outside London.

The bar group said that the opening ‘marks a significant step’ in its strategy of expansion beyond the capital. It plans to expand its bar portfolio from 14 sites today, to 25 in the next five years – although how many of these will be in London is unclear.

This is Vagabond’s third venue this year, following launches in Soho and Canary Wharf. Its only other non-London bar opened in Birmingham five years ago – prior to Vagabond’s acquisition by Majestic in April 2024.

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Vagabond has previously had other bars outside the captial, including at Gatwick Airport, although this was sold off in the aforementioned buyout.

Graham Hall, interim MD of Vagabond Wines, noted that: “Brighton has always been a city that marches to its own beat – it’s fun, vibrant and fiercely independent, all of which make it a dream location for Vagabond. It’s been a while since we opened a new bar outside of London, and we couldn’t have picked a more perfect place to do it.

“Brighton has such a diverse and colourful mix of bars, restaurants and retailers, all offering something unique and innovative. We’re really excited to bring our wine experience to the party and introduce the city to a brand-new way of enjoying wine, one pour at a time.”

The new central Brighton site was formerly occupied by the original location of Browns Brasserie, which closed in 2025 after 52 years of trading, due to the expiry of its lease (with the remaining 26 Browns locations unaffected).

The 2,980 sq ft venue will, of course, feature Vagabond’s self-pour wine machines, with a selection of over 100 wines by-the-glass, along with a stainless-steel bar, a staircase crafted from riddling racks and a private dining room available for group hire.

Investment in physical locations has not been the business’ only strategy since its acquisition by Majestic. It has recently launched an app, a number of digital wine flights and an online, direct-to-consumer wine delivery service.

Vagabond said that its unique combination of eclectic wines, WSET-qualified teams and its use of technology is aimed at attracting a younger and more digitally engaged generation of wine drinker, along with stripping away ‘the intimidation surrounding wine’.

Its range includes a host of English wines produced by Vagabond at its Urban Winery in Canada Water, with many using grapes from across Sussex and the Southeast.

Vagabond has found success with these own-brand wines, winning Producer of the Year at this year’s Independent English Wine Awards.

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