The Agents

John Clyne

Public houses

negotiator

Christie+Co

The effects of the credit crunch have been widely reported and Christie+Co's own statistics showed that 2007 was a year of two halves, with the bulk of transactional activity taking place in the early months of the year. Although sentiment, as we entered 2008, was one of apprehension, the pub market in the south-west has been busier than ever in recent weeks.

We have already reported that average pub property values across the UK moved forward by an encouraging 6.5% during 2007 as a whole. For most of our offices, transactional activity in the latter half of the year was less frenetic than it had been during the early months. From September onwards, uncertainty in the debt market cooled general property sector activity and stalled some of the larger portfolio transactions. Individual property acquisition opportunities continued to generate considerable demand and, although some buyers exercised more caution towards the end of the year, single asset transactions continued to take place. In fact, our Exeter office — which brokered more than 30 deals during 2007 — bucked the trend by selling more businesses in the second half of the year than it did in the first.

My current view of the south-west market is one of cautious optimism. Just two months into 2008 we have completed a number of significant deals and we have received a flurry of new instructions, which are already attracting interest. The south-west is growing in popularity as a destination so it's hardly surprising that well-located pubs trade well and continue to generate considerable demand when they come to the market. Cornwall is firmly placed in Visit Britain's top-10 list of destinations and many pub businesses benefit from the strong local tourist trade.

Quality freehold pubs continue to be scarce and, when they do come onto the market, they tend to attract bids from regional pub companies and national operators, as well as private individuals. Quality leasehold opportunities are almost equally popular and also achieve robust prices. We recently sold the lease of the Globe Inn at Sampford Peverell off an asking price of £350,000 after a bidding process.

With a number of significant sales under our belt already this year I feel we can look to the coming months with

cautious optimism.