If you are not already on the High Street, don't worry. Off the circuit - and perhaps even out of town altogether - is the place to be if you are in the bar and restaurant buying and selling business.
The latest sales news from the UK's pub and restaurant sector adds to the evidence that the largely branded High Street retail arena is looking increasingly overcrowded.
The big property buyers at the moment are the leased pub operators. They are after bigger sites to improve their portfolios, and their targets are increasingly likely to be small and medium sized unbranded managed pub operators. Inn Partnership's rumoured move on Clarinbridge, a 28-strong Cheshire-based operator, is just one example.
Even major restaurant operators are seen as wanting more destination locations with parking.
Branded sites are becoming more difficult to move, and Fuller's and Yates may have problems moving the Broadwalk, Wine Lodge and Addisons units they currently have up for sale. Details of the progress of the Dome disposal by Laurel should emerge this coming week.
Scottish & Newcastle has taken its time to offload Old Orleans, though a deal is now said to be close, and Regent Inns has dropped its bid price for Wolverhampton & Dudley's Pitcher & Piano, despite it being an established popular brand. Wolves' management must be getting a little jumpy about its Varsity student bar sale, as well.
The fact that many of these properties are leasehold, with potential problems over assignment, does not help. It is interesting that many of the Café Rouge and Bella Pasta sites disposed of by Whitbread have gone to individual rather than major corporate buyers.
Robert Breare's Noble House, Greene King and Pubmaster are seen among the market's potential big buyers. The first two are linked to the takeover speculation at Old English Inns and new rumours over Eldridge Pope. Pubmaster has promised a big deal before Christmas.
Prices for non-High Street pubs are expected to continue upwards. This could well prompt a few more exits.
But it would be wrong to suggest that all is doom and gloom in the High Street branded market. Established players are reporting a buoyant summer, with figures for the second quarter of the year looking well up on expectations.
It is just that this increasingly tight market is no place for newcomers or weak offerings. It's a jungle were the big beasts are king.
The latest sales news from the UK's pub and restaurant sector adds to the evidence that the largely branded High Street retail arena is looking increasingly overcrowded.
The big property buyers at the moment are the leased pub operators. They are after bigger sites to improve their portfolios, and their targets are increasingly likely to be small and medium sized unbranded managed pub operators. Inn Partnership's rumoured move on Clarinbridge, a 28-strong Cheshire-based operator, is just one example.
Even major restaurant operators are seen as wanting more destination locations with parking.
Branded sites are becoming more difficult to move, and Fuller's and Yates may have problems moving the Broadwalk, Wine Lodge and Addisons units they currently have up for sale. Details of the progress of the Dome disposal by Laurel should emerge this coming week.
Scottish & Newcastle has taken its time to offload Old Orleans, though a deal is now said to be close, and Regent Inns has dropped its bid price for Wolverhampton & Dudley's Pitcher & Piano, despite it being an established popular brand. Wolves' management must be getting a little jumpy about its Varsity student bar sale, as well.
The fact that many of these properties are leasehold, with potential problems over assignment, does not help. It is interesting that many of the Café Rouge and Bella Pasta sites disposed of by Whitbread have gone to individual rather than major corporate buyers.
Robert Breare's Noble House, Greene King and Pubmaster are seen among the market's potential big buyers. The first two are linked to the takeover speculation at Old English Inns and new rumours over Eldridge Pope. Pubmaster has promised a big deal before Christmas.
Prices for non-High Street pubs are expected to continue upwards. This could well prompt a few more exits.
But it would be wrong to suggest that all is doom and gloom in the High Street branded market. Established players are reporting a buoyant summer, with figures for the second quarter of the year looking well up on expectations.
It is just that this increasingly tight market is no place for newcomers or weak offerings. It's a jungle were the big beasts are king.
