Grantley Arms owners to sell award-winning gastropub

Chris Frederick and Richard Cryer, who bought the Grantley Arms, Wonersh, last year, have accepted an offer from Pearmain Pubs, which owns six pubs across the county, The Morning Advertiser ​(MA​) understands.

Frederick said: “[The pub] is doing really well. I guess really for us to take the business to the next level it would need another few hundred thousand pounds.”

Both Frederick and Cryer worked full time jobs in the City while overseeing the Grantley Arms, located a few miles south of Guildford.

High-risk industry​

“It's still a high-risk industry and being at arm's length from it, it's difficult to manage it externally,” he added.

“We’ve had a lot of offers from pub companies but we wanted to work with one who will carry on the business as we would like to see it – we’re locals too.”

The duo invested approximately £500,000 in the Grantley Arms after taking it on, employing chef Matt Edmonds, previously of Searcys at the Gherkin, London, to oversee its food offer​.

Cryer said: “Ultimately, it's been the hard work and dedication of the staff, especially Matthew Edmonds, to get to where we have got to."

Triple revenue forecast

“His creativity and hard work, often sleeping on the pub sofa, drove sales into the millions, triple the revenue that we forecasted this time last year.”

Frederick added: “It's been fantastic. The turnaround was very exciting. I think the pub can do a lot more and I think we've shown that the market is there. We still believe it’s one of the best pubs in the country.”

The Grantley Arms was named One to Watch at 2016’s Top 50 Gastropubs awards and given two AA rosettes for culinary excellence as well as winning the prestigious Best Turnaround Pub​ title at the Great British Pub Awards.

Read The Morning Advertiser’s chef profile with Matt Edmonds​​