Newco, the giant pub company formed out of the takeover of Unique and Voyager by a consortium including Enterprise Inns, has changed its name - to Unique.
The company said the name change to The Unique Pub Company Limited "paves the way for combining the operations of the Voyager and Unique Pub Companies on 1 October," as Voyager converts an increasing proportion of its managed pubs to tenancies and leases.
Graham Turner, managing director of The Unique Pub Company, said: "The Voyager management team has done a tremendous job in moving their pubs on to lease or tenancy agreements. Unique's particular expertise is in operating leased and tenanted houses and therefore it makes sense to consolidate the management of the Voyager pubs into the Unique business."
The Unique Pub Company Limited, the third biggest pubco in the country, will control around 4,100 pubs, 3,200 inherited from Unique and 900 from Voyager, the company formed to acquire the smaller unbranded managed pubs once owned by Bass. Both companies were sold earlier this year by the Japanese finance house Nomura to a consortium including the venture capitalist concern Cinven, Enterprise Inns, Morgan Stanley and Legal and General Ventures.
Enterprise Inns has a call option to purchase the whole of what is now The Unique Pub Company Limited some time between 1 January and 30 November 2004. In the meantime Unique will continue to operate as an independent business with its own management team and strategy.
Turner said the reorganisation of the two former companies into the new Unique Pub Company Limited structure should be completed by the end of this year, at which point Nick Bishop, the company's HR and communications director, and Allan Cumberland, the property director, will leave the business, "their roles being absorbed into the current management structure." He said: "Nick and Allan have done a tremendous job, particularly over the past three years in helping to establish Unique in the industry and we wish them well for the future."
The company said the name change to The Unique Pub Company Limited "paves the way for combining the operations of the Voyager and Unique Pub Companies on 1 October," as Voyager converts an increasing proportion of its managed pubs to tenancies and leases.
Graham Turner, managing director of The Unique Pub Company, said: "The Voyager management team has done a tremendous job in moving their pubs on to lease or tenancy agreements. Unique's particular expertise is in operating leased and tenanted houses and therefore it makes sense to consolidate the management of the Voyager pubs into the Unique business."
The Unique Pub Company Limited, the third biggest pubco in the country, will control around 4,100 pubs, 3,200 inherited from Unique and 900 from Voyager, the company formed to acquire the smaller unbranded managed pubs once owned by Bass. Both companies were sold earlier this year by the Japanese finance house Nomura to a consortium including the venture capitalist concern Cinven, Enterprise Inns, Morgan Stanley and Legal and General Ventures.
Enterprise Inns has a call option to purchase the whole of what is now The Unique Pub Company Limited some time between 1 January and 30 November 2004. In the meantime Unique will continue to operate as an independent business with its own management team and strategy.
Turner said the reorganisation of the two former companies into the new Unique Pub Company Limited structure should be completed by the end of this year, at which point Nick Bishop, the company's HR and communications director, and Allan Cumberland, the property director, will leave the business, "their roles being absorbed into the current management structure." He said: "Nick and Allan have done a tremendous job, particularly over the past three years in helping to establish Unique in the industry and we wish them well for the future."
