Brakspear expands with New Dawn site acquisitions
The family owned company has taken on The Rose & Crown near Alton and The Royal Exchange near Bordon joining Brakspear’s 110-strong L&T estate. Both pubs benefit from idyllic village locations, significant investment and a strong existing trade in food and drink and Brakspear said it has already identified successful operators to run the pubs.
Tom Davies, Brakspear chief executive, said: “These beautiful and popular rural pubs will be a perfect fit for our existing L&T estate. We’re delighted to have secured them and created a presence for Brakspear in Hampshire for the first time.
“Both pubs enjoy an excellent reputation locally and we’re confident that they will continue to thrive, particularly as we move into the summer, thanks to their attractive outdoor trading spaces.”
He added: “We intend these to be the first of many acquisitions during 2024, as we look for new pubs to join both our L&T estate and Honeycomb Houses managed division. Despite the challenges our industry continues to face, we are confident that, with the right site and the right Business Partner or general manager, we can build a successful pub. We’re looking forward to adding more successes to our estate this year.”
Mark Robson, New Dawn Pubs managing director, added: “These pubs have been a fantastic part of our collection over the last several years, and a real hub for the local communities, just as we believe pubs should be.
“Their success is hugely attributed to the hardworking teams who have been the beating heart of these sites. We look forward to seeing their further development with Brakspear and wish them the best of luck."
He said the move was part of the shift in strategy within New Dawn. “These two pubs were our smallest and whilst great and profitable, the return from such properties has diminished over the last five years and our focus is now on larger, higher volume pubs. We may look to acquire additional bigger pubs in due course but for now we are happy consolidating to see what happens politically and economically over the next 12 months before we do anything else.”
