Market Town Taverns buys 15th pub

Market Town Taverns (MTT), the Yorkshire based pub retailer, has bought a pub in Otley, West Yorkshire, from Enterprise Inns.

The company has acquired the Three Horseshoes, which it plans to refurbish in the New Year — it has been run by Enterprise under temporary management.

MTT managing director Ian Fozard said: "Interestingly, Enterprise Inns was adamant that the pub had to be sold to an operator — it couldn't go for alternative use."

The acquisition means that MTT will have added five sites to its portfolio within a year — it now has 15 venues.

It will also be opening two sites in Leeds over the coming months. In October, it will re-open a former wine bar in Leeds city centre as Veritas, a venue specialising in cask ale and wine.

The site, which was operated as a Hogshead at one stage, has been closed since July 2008.

A month later, in early November, the company will open a venue called East of Arcadia in the Leeds suburb of Meanwood.

The opening is a shell unit on the site of the former Beckett's Arms pub, which was knocked down for redevelopment.

In the past year, MTT has also added the Mitre in Knaresborough and the Swan on the Stray in Harrogate to the estate.

Fozard added: "We're having a successful year with profits likely to be well up on last year, and feel confident about the future for our niche offer in our core trading area.

"We have a very tight catchment area and we don't intend to go outside it."

MTTs' turnover is around £5m per annum.