British Country Inns places 13 pubs on the market
The pubs are high-quality, food-led country pubs across England and Wales. The sites are positioned as destination country pubs, close to popular tourist areas but away from busy high streets. They offer guests a traditional British countryside atmosphere with letting rooms and cosy tea rooms.
The pub group has ensured that each site has the flexibility to trade for its local surroundings, with an established and increasingly strong evening trade, supplemented by an evolving lunch offer.
Its Twisted Spoon format, which is in the early phase of a rollout across the estate, offers customers a wide selection of teas, coffees and home-made cakes baked on-site.
“There are only 9,500 managed houses in the UK, and good-quality portfolios of critical mass such as this rarely come to the market. As such, there is likely to be high demand for the BCI estate,” said Neil Morgan, managing director of Pubs & Restaurant at Christie & Co.
“This sale, in particular, presents a tremendous opportunity for either a new entrant looking to buy their way into the market or an experienced operator looking to expand their estate."
Christie & Co is inviting offers for either the portfolio as a whole, packages of multiple sites, or individual assets.
In July 2017, BCI announced plans to sell seven of its smaller freehold sites. The aim was to eliminate bank debt and free up some “limited capital investment”.
Earlier this year, the company sold two pubs to Liberation Group. The Lime Kiln Inn, Knole, Somerset; and Beambridge Inn, Sampford Arundel, Somerset; were purchased for an undisclosed sum.
