Old hands provide new hope for Provence pubs

Two white knights have emerged from the collapse of discredited pub company Provence, with the aim of saving premises licences at around 150 pubs believed to be still trading.

Chris Horton and David Nugent, both of whom have extensive industry experience, were drafted in by Provence a year ago to advise on how to run its tenanted estate.

As Provence faced collapse at the end of last week, the pair applied to transfer 150 pub premises licences out of Provence's name and into the name of Inn Trade Associates, a company they set up in February. The move, which saw 150 transfer applications received by local authorities on Wednesday morning - the day after Provence ceased trading - allows 150 Provence pubs to continue to trade. Horton told MA: "We've done this to protect the interests of licensees and freehold owners."

The move may also affect an attempt by Peter Kiely, brother of Provence founder Paul Kiely, to transfer premises licences of 12 of Provence's best managed pubs into the name of his new company Birchwood Leisure.

Nugent, who worked as managing director of the Firkin chain when it was owned by Allied Domecq, said: "Provence was run by people with no pub industry experience and there was a danger that premises licences would fall away when the company ceased trading.

"There is no financial gain for us in this, although we would hope to build an ongoing business relationship with investors, helping them to manage and develop their pubs - we are not an arm of Provence in any way. We want to help investors protect their investment by keeping their pubs open."

Horton and Nugent have sent a recorded delivery letter to all Provence freehold investors explaining their actions and inviting them to contact them. Aside from the 150 or so Provence pubs thought to be still trading, around 90 pubs are closed or closing - 50 from the managed division and 40 for which Provence was unable to find tenants.