Newly named Heartwood Collection, formerly Brasserie Bar Co, may have acquired 11 freehold sites over the past year, but it “has not been particularly easy”, executive chairman Mark Derry tells MCA.
“We have thrown a lot of resource and effort at it to ensure that we get the right kind of places,” he explains. But hard work certainly isn’t going to stop the group from accelerating its growth under owner Alchemy Partners – which acquired the business in February last year.
It is targeting an estate of around 60 sites, including up to 500 bedrooms, by 2027, with Derry optimistic it could add another eight or nine venues to its portfolio over the next year or so, including 150 bedrooms.
The Black Swan in Henley, Arden, in Warwickshire, will open in a couple of months and confirms a change in direction for the business, representing only the second freehold development. While the development of pubs with rooms begins later in the year, with four in the pipeline, including The White Hart in Lewes.
“We don’t have much experience in that area, but our investor has so we talked to them about it and both agree that it’s well worth us trying to step up to that challenge.”
The fact the business already looks to provide a premium experience gives a flavour of the kind of offer it is looking to create with its bedroom estate.
“The domestic accommodation market, and pubs with rooms specifically, has grown as people have stayed in the UK more – it’s a fallout from Covid, but I think it’s likely to stick.”
In terms of the addition of bedrooms to the estate, this will come solely through acquisitions, Derry explains, as the existing estate does not offer any real opportunities to add rooms on.
In terms of location, the business is looking to continue with much the same strategy it had in place for its pub business White Brasserie Company – which will be become Heartwood Inns as of 6 July, as it needs to be able to manage operations effectively from its southwest London base in Teddington.
Birmingham is still within reach, in terms of scope, but expansion up north and into Scotland is certainly not on the cards at the moment, he says.
Historically it has taken “underinvested but nice pubs”, and spent capital on them to improve kitchens, covers and the ambiance of the sites, which Derry says has more than doubled the revenue.
“We are not out there looking for highly polished, already beautiful, locations. We are looking for places that are underinvested that we can develop in our own image. When you look from the outside all of our pubs are beautiful and completely different, but the bones of it are very similar, in terms of kitchen design, number of covers and outside space, so we are pretty particular about what we are buying,” he says.
While its 14 Brasserie Blanc restaurants, which will remain named as such, are not the current focus of the group’s growth plan, Derry says they are still incredibly important to the business and where it gets its food culture from, and is a part of the business is wants to protect and evolve over time.
“It is incredibly important to invest in those sites and we are spending money at a number of locations to make sure they are in good shape,” he explains.
“It’s not that we aren’t going to extend that part of the business, it’s just we are not doing it at the moment as we want to take the opportunity to build scale in the pub business.”
