Punch Taverns
Acting on behalf of Punch Taverns Christie + Co has seen a high percentage of their original instructions now sold with at present, around 40 properties still available, with a number of these in legals. Of the pubs sold it is interesting to note that over 60% of these have been retained for licensed use with over 75% of purchasers living within a 10 mile radius of the pub they have purchased. Buyers have varied from national managed house pub operators and regional brewers/operators to local property investors, with freehold prices ranging from £50,000 to in excess of £700,000. Since the demerger of Spirit in August 2011 Punch Taverns leased estate encompasses in excess of 5,000 pubs nationwide.
Close Imperial Pub Co
With a number of sites currently on the market in Essex and Herts Christie +Co have also completed on a number of sales in 2011 for Close Imperial including the Angel at Stoke by Nayland and the Lamb on the Strand in Wiltshire. The Angel located in the heart of Constable Country in Dedham Vale in Essex sold to an expanding Leisure company close to its freehold asking price of £595,000 while the Lamb on the Strand, close to Trowbridge sold to a local licensee off an asking price of £595,000 also. In addition Christie + Co also sold the Crown Point Inn in Sevenoaks to Close Imperial in 2010 to the Orchid Pub Co.
Dukedom
Acting on behalf of BDO LLP, the Administrators of North East bar operator Dukedom, Christie + Co, acting as joint agent, have achieved a number of recent exchanges and completions over the summer months of 2011, and have brought new owners to over 10 bars in the north east including Aruba in Whitely Bay, Chennels in Barnsley and the unusually named GW Homers in Hull.
British Waterways
Recent lease completions on 2 former Bar Risa/Jongleurs units have given British Waterways new tenants in their mixed use leisure developments in Nottingham and Bow in East London. The 9,000 sq ft unit of a former glue factory on the Hertford Union Canal in Bow is a short distance to the Olympic stadia in Stratford, and has been let by Christie + Co to Buffet Restaurant operators Buddha Belly, who are expanding in the south east with sites already underway in Maidstone and Bromley. The second letting was located on Castle Wharf in Nottingham and was let to Midlands based comedy operator the Glee Club. British Waterways, a charitable organisation, cares for over 2,200 miles of the country's canals and rivers and has many bar and restaurant operators as tenants on their leisure developments.
Bank of Ireland
Acting on behalf of an LPA Receiver appointed by the Bank of Ireland Christie + Co has recently completed the sales of 2 freehold former Regent Inns properties with joint agents DTZ. The Cathedral Hotel in Salisbury, a 22 bedroom hotel with ground floor bar & restaurant completed to a private investor who purchased the property subject to an existing tenancy at a figure in excess of 1 million. The former Walkabout on the high St in Southampton also completed on freehold terms – an impressive former Bank of England premises was purchased by the owners of Cosmo Restaurants with plans to open as a restaurant at some point over the next 24 months.
Cougar Leisure
Following instructions from Cougar Leisure and subsequently the joint administrators Begbies Traynor LLP Christie + Co have disposed of a number of bars and nightclubs in 2011 across the UK. These included Mood Nightclubs in Edinburgh, Liverpool and Newcastle, Brannigans in Blackpool and Romford as well as bars in Manchester, Wigan and Whitley Bay. The sales were a mix of freehold disposals and leasehold assignments with most benefiting from late licences.
Barracuda
Acting on behalf of Barracuda plc Christie + Co launched the sale of 22 non core high street bars in late 2010 with a geographic spread from Glasgow to Newquay on the south coast, and from Maidstone to Port Talbot in Wales. As at late 2011 there are 8 available properties, with sales completed to a number of high street operators and private operators including JD Wetherspoon, Persian Leisure and the Co-op.
Fever Bars
Acting on behalf of private landlords Christie + Co have let the former City Library in Peterborough to expanding high street operator Fever Bars, which opened after a period of refurbishment as a Fever Bar over the August bank holiday weekend 2011. This takes the number of bars for the Cheltenham based operator to 12, with more units planned over the last quarter of 2011.
Charles Wells Pub Company
Acting on behalf of Charles Wells, the Bedfordshire-based brewer and Pub Company in early 2011, Christie + Co has acquired the freehold of the two-AA-rosette Knife & Cleaver restaurant with rooms, in the Bedfordshire village of Houghton Conquest, for an undisclosed sum. The property is now available to let through Christie + Co and is being upgraded throughout with a Capex programme of over £300,000. The fast growing estate includes over 200 properties ranging from destination food bubs to high street bars, with tenants including the Orchid Pub Co and the Peach Pub Co.
iNTERTAIN Ltd
Acting on behalf of iNTERTAIN Ltd, Christie + Co has sold the Walkabout Bar in Battersea Rise, Clapham to expanding South London operator Antic. Situated on Lavender Gardens, a short distance from Clapham Junction and the Common, the property, which is configured over two floors, was the location of the first Jongleurs Comedy Club, and more recently traded as a Highlights comedy club on the first floor and a Walkabout sports bar on the ground floor.
The free of tie leasehold premises, was sold after a short period of targeted marketing, and will reopen after a period of refurbishment as the Battersea Mess & Music Hall. Antic, which has 16 pubs, the majority of which are south of the river, and all are ‘proper pubs’ in traditional buildings with some of the best entertainment that London has to offer. iNTERTAIN operates circa 50 plus sites throughout the UK with Walkabout, the UK’s number 1 Sports bar, and a number of Highlights comedy clubs.
Spirit Pub Company
With instructions from Spirit on a number of high street bars, traditional pubs and late night venues, Christie & Co have completed on a number of sales across the UK through their network of 14 offices. Recent sales include the Baja Bar in Bristol on the Cannons Rd Leisure development, Bar 38 on the Quayside in Newcastle, The Grape in Edinburgh, a converted Banking Hall on George St in the City Centre and Bar Edge adjacent to the Merry Hill shopping centre in Dudley West Midlands. The Spirit Pub Co, having demerged from Punch Taverns in August 2011, operate 800 high quality branded pubs nationwide with over 16,000 dedicated employees, with leading brands such as Chef & Brewer, Flaming Grill and Fayre & Square.
Moorgate Taverns
Acting on behalf of Administrator Moorfields Corporate Recovery LLP, Christie + Co has sold nine of the 10 former Moorgate Taverns it placed on the market at the end of September 2010.
The freehold units, located across central and southern England with the majority based in Hertfordshire, ranged in price from £250,000 to £540,000, and were a mixture of managed and tenanted pubs. A deal has also been agreed on the remaining pub and the final transaction is expected complete within weeks.
Amber Taverns Limited
Christie + Co advised private equity firm LGV Capital on its secondary management buy-out of Amber Taverns Limited, the community-focused pub company, based in Preston, Lancashire. It owns and operates 56 pubs, predominantly in the North West and North East under its unique Operator Agreements, which incentivise its pub operators by offering them a share of the pub’s takings. LGV backed the existing management team of Clive Preston (Chairman), James Baer (Joint Managing Director), Bryan Wardman (Joint Managing Director), Michael Norris (Finance Director) and Gary Roberts (Operations Director). Amber said it could now double the size of its estate in the next three to four years.
Bar Risa/Jongleurs
Acting on behalf of Christ Church College, Oxford, and Administrators from BDO LLP, Christie + Co re-let the former Bar Risa/Jongleurs in Oxford, to Cavendish Bars, the late night bars and venues operator, for an undisclosed sum.
Whitbread
Acting jointly on behalf of Whitbread, Christie + Co and Gerald Eve sold the long leasehold interest of the Greaves Park in Lancaster, Lancashire, to Chameleon Pub Company, the North of England-based pub operator, for an undisclosed sum. This followed the sale of the freehold interest of the Nevill Crest & Gun in Kent for Whitbread, to Brunning & Price, the pub operator, for an undisclosed sum.