Making a move

Michelle Perrett catches up with Dean and Samantha Brand to see how they are finding running a pub since they first featured on TV's Relocation, Relocation.

For pub trade novices Dean and Samantha Brand getting behind the bar of the Old Comical on the Isle of Wight was a dream come true. While millions of us tune in for our weekly dose of property duo Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp in the Channel 4 show Relocation, Relocation, Dean and Samantha's efforts to buy the pub saw them feature in the highest rated show in the latest series, screened in April.

The programme saw the couple up sticks from Nuneaton where Samantha was a bank clerk for the Treasury and Dean was an account manager for a photocopier firm, to relocate to the InnSpired-owned pub with their two-year-old son William.

"They advertised the show on our intranet at work," explains Samantha. "We had been going down to the Isle of Wight for years so I sent them an email. Within a day they had sent me an email back. We needed an excuse to do it as we did consider just moving down and getting normal jobs."

And the experiment has worked for the couple, who are now TV celebrities on the island. They have been inundated with cards from well-wishers and their prime-time TV slot has done wonders for their new business.

"We get 20 to 30 couples a week coming in because who want to see the pub because of the show. That first Easter weekend we did more business than the pub did over Christmas," says Dean.

Kirstie and Phil (pictured)​ took them to see a number of sites on the island, including a range of pubs and a café that they thought could be renovated.

"We had a requirement to fulfil and it's about what is right for everybody. The Old Comical ticked all the boxes and it's already bringing in an income," says Dean.

"The big thing is that there is room for us to develop the food offering.

"I also have a bar manager already in place and that's given us some free time to put together a development plan for the pub."

As for the café option suggested by Kirstie and Phil, Dean says they weren't keen.

"My view is that I would be paying all this money for the goodwill, then close it for a month," he explains. "It was not a viable option. We are getting a minimum £40,000 income here for not doing anything to the property."

So what are Dean and Samantha's plans for the site, which they took over at the beginning of March?

"We have spent £2,000 tarting the pub up before we make some big changes," says Dean. "This is a hardcore drinker pub so we can't change the bar. But the bar at the back of the pub was not being used as a social area.

"We have to cater for everybody. We have builders coming in during the day and after work. Then they go home they get scrubbed up and bring their wives back in the evening."

The pub takes £200,000 per annum just on drink and Samantha and Dean would like to double that by introducing a new restaurant area.

"We have kept the business that we've got and have brought a lot of people back to the pub because we are known. As a result beer sales have already gone up 33 per cent," Dean says.

And what of the future? Dean thinks they will give the venture five years before deciding whether to move on or not.

"Every Englishman wants his own castle and my dream would be to own a freehold," he says. "To run a pub you need good business acumen at the end of the day."

They are set to feature in a new programme in October when Kirstie and Phil return to see how their business is going. "Ultimately I think you have to make things happen and InnSpired have been very supportive," adds Dean.

An InnSpired choice​

InnSpired Pub Company has 1,072 pubs located across the country.

It has also recently completed a refinancing which, the company says, will give it an extra £5m to add new pubs to its estate.

InnSpired offers potential licensees two types of agreement - a 12-month tenancy and a 10 to 20-year assignable lease.

Peter Brook, chief executive at InnSpired, said: "We are keen to encourage new entrants to the trade, and Dean and Samantha are perfect examples of the sort of people we want to run InnSpired pubs.

"We want people who come to us with a new vision and entrepreneurial ideas. With a 12-month tenancy people can realise their dream or if they find that it's just too demanding they can give us notice."

The two types of InnSpired agreement are:​

12-month tenancy agreement:

• Fixed term 12-month agreement with no protection under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954
• The rent is negotiated according to an agreed evaluation of profitability
• The landlord will arrange full buildings insurance, which is recharged to the tenant monthly
• The tenant purchases the loose inventory at valuation
• The tenant is to keep the premises in good and substantial repair, although the company retains responsibility for the exterior of the building
• The tenant is required to purchase all ales, low alcohol or non-alcohol beers, lagers and cider in draught and package forms and all minerals from suppliers nominated by the company
• They are free to purchase and stock wines and spirits from their own suppliers
• AWP machine take is split 50/50

10/20-year assignable lease:

• Fixed term 10/20-year lease with full protection under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954
• Licensees can choose to assign their lease after two years
• The rent is negotiated to an agreed evaluation of profitability
• The landlord will arrange full buildings insurance, which is recharged to the tenant monthly
• The tenant purchases the loose inventory at valuation
• The tenant is to keep the premises in good and substantial repair, although the company retains responsibility for the structure of the building
• The tenant is required to purchase all ales, low alcohol or non-alcohol beers, lagers and cider in draught and package forms and all minerals from suppliers nominated by the company
• They are free to purchase and stock wines and spirits from their own suppliers
• AWP machine take is split 75/25 between the lessee and the company
• InnSpired also offers its lessees an incentive scheme. Licensees who meet their target barrelage will receive a incentive reward per barrel.

See www.innspired.com for further information​