Hosts hail freehold deals

Licensees who bought their freeholds from Punch Taverns two years ago say the move has paid off with bigger profits being achieved, allowing greater investment in their businesses.

The Publican's Morning Advertiser spoke to licensees who took advantage of Punch's last sell-off at a time when the company is in the process of selling off around 2,200 more pubs.

Jeremy Hague snapped up the Egerton Arms in Chelford, Cheshire, for around £800,000 and has reported a "fantastic year".

His manager Nick Rowcliffe said: "The main difference we've found outside of Punch is that we can go to the open marketplace, not just for beer, but for things such as insurance, and all our overheads have come down. It's meant we can invest in the pub, in things like kitchen equipment and décor, for example."

Tracy Bird, of the Newman Arms in Fitzrovia, central London, paid £800,000 for the pub and is planning to open a pie shop next door. "We've had a better year's trading and we've made a bigger net profit.

"Barrelage is up, an extra cask-ale pump has been added to the bar and there are now 10 taps on the T-bars. The pub recently sold 12 nine-gallon kegs in a week — up from a typical 10.

"Cask ciders are new here and they've gone well, especially Apples & Pears from Lilleys Cider Barn. People were asking for a wheat beer so we tried Blue Moon, but that didn't sell, so now we have Hoegaarden.

"It's been easy to get the beers we need from Fuller's and we couldn't experiment like that if we were tied."

Carl Scourfield, with his business partner John Wright, bought the Pied Bull in Chester for £950,000 and is expanding his cask-ale range with the goal of getting into the Good Beer Guide.

"Business is up 10% since last year and our annual turnover is approaching £1m," he said.