Hosts secure Punch freehold for third pub

A Brighton couple have snapped up a bargain Punch freehold in Lewes — paying £125,000 less than originally advertised.

Dominic McCartan and Tony Leonard, hosts of two Greene King-leased pubs in Brighton, bought the freehold for an undisclosed sum off an asking price of £350,000. The pub was advertised last year with a price tag of £475,000. 

The sale was financed by RBS in a deal brokered by AFC Finance. The couple currently run the Hop Poles and the Eagle in Brighton but The Snowdrop is their first freehouse.

Leonard will be responsible for front of house while McCartan, who trained with Darina and Rachel Allen at Ballymaloe Cookery school in Ireland, will be the head chef. 

The pair are committed to sourcing the best local and seasonal food and drink and until recently they published the a local food magazine called Eat Sussex. 

Suppliers lined up include Harveys, Dark Star and Meantime Brewery for beer, Middle Farm for cider, Plantation Pigs, South Downs lamb, Brookland White free-range chickens, Holmansbridge Farm eggs and sausages, Downsview ice cream, milk and cream, High Weald Dairy for cheese and vegetables, fish from Fin and Farm and artisan bread and pastries from Lighthouse Bakery. 

They also plan to buy surplus produce from neighbourhood allotment holders and gardeners with local currency, the Lewes Pound.

Leonard said: "Lewes is home to some wonderful pubs; some of the very best in the South East. We're going to do everything we possibly can to put the Snowdrop back where she belongs, up there amongst them."

The pub is currently closed for kitchen and cellar work and will reopen at 7pm Monday 28 September.