Amber Taverns has secured a former Pound Pubs site as it seeks to add 12 to 14 sites to its currently 130-strong estate this year.
Managing director James Baer told MCA that the group was currently refurbishing the site in Atherton, Greater Manchester, to operate under its core wet-led model. The group is also close to opening the Pig Iron in Port Talbot – its fifth site in south Wales and a site under its Hogarth’s model in Blackpool.
The group opened its first conversion of a retail unit in Bury last year and Baer said high street landlords needed to look at working more closely with licensed operators.
He said despite speculation that the group may be one of the next targets for a takeover in the wake of the proposed Punch/Heineken deal, there had been no approaches and that Amber’s backers were not looking for an imminent exit.
On recent trading he said: “Christmas was a bit of a low start but when it came it was solid and it ended up as a good period for us.
“January has obviously been quieter but perhaps we haven’t seen quite the push on Dry January that there has been in recent years. Even (chief medical officer) Sally Davies seems to have done a bit of a U-turn.
“Certainly our model is still proving successful and the growth of concepts like Craft Union shows that other people have caught on to that.”
Baer said the biggest issue facing the sector at the moment was business rates but he warned that there should not be complacency around duty cuts.
He said: “We’ve had a couple of cuts and a freeze in the past few years and I just hope people’s memories aren’t too short and that they haven’t forgotten the damage a hike in beer duty can cause.
“We need to make sure as an industry that we have a simple and clear message to Government on how it can help us create jobs and support local economies.”
On high street sites, Baer said: “Landlords in high streets need to be more open to the kind of businesses that are going to revive town centres and pubs have a big part to play in that.”
