Enterprise sells ten pubs for alternative use

Enterprise Inns has sold ten closed pubs for alternative use at an auction held by Breach Wood Ingram (BWI). The raising a total of £1.6m on eight of them - a surplus of £118,500 over asking prices.

The remaining two were sold after the auction. BWI director Richard Wood said "We are absolutely delighted at the success of the pub sales".

Wood said that most buyers were property investors, who "aren't getting any return on their cash in the bank thanks to the interest rates cut". Although the pubs were all sold with a restrictive covenant preventing them from being used again as pubs, several are destined to become restaurants.

Two remaining properties - The Unicorn Hotel in Powys and The Cornucopia in Ammanford - are believed to have been sold after the auction. These properties have had their guide prices reduced, from £160,000 to £150,000 and from £125,000 to £90,000 respectively.

Two pubs, The Morgan Inn in Malvern sold at the auction for £80,000 over the guide price, at £180,000 while The First & Last in Plymouth also sold on the night for £146,000 - £6,000 over the guide price.

As reported by the MA, six of the pubs were sold to bidders prior to the auction. The Nag's Head in Crewkerne and The Wine Vaults in Yeovil sold to the same buyer for the combined guide price £440,000. The Ship & Castle in Ashton Vale sold prior to the sale for £185,000. The Rose and Crown sold prior for £235,000 - £35,000 over the guide price, The Angel in Wootton Bassett sold for the advertised price of £285,000, as did the Market Tavern in Neath, Wales, which sold prior for just under the asking price of £130,000 at £127,500.

A spokesman for Enterprise said "There is far too much talking-down the market going on at present. We have seen that rumours of the death of the market for property transactions are greatly exaggerated. Our experience is that buyers have called the bottom of the market and are busy securing assets. It is a great time to be a buyer, as the success of our Auction on Wednesday evening demonstrates. We will certainly be including further lots in auction during 2009.