Warrington-based pub operator Bravo Inns is looking for a successor to managing director Ken Buckley, who set himself a timetable of stepping down in 18 months’ time.
Buckley told MCA’s sister title, the Morning Advertiser, that he is eyeing a move to a part-time chairman’s role, once a new managing director is found.
He said the Albion Ventures-backed group had a five-year plan to grow the currently 38-strong estate by five pubs per annum and told the MA that “if a game-changer came up, a package of pubs, I’m pretty sure we’d be able to fund that too”.
Buckley also said if he was a younger man he would have launched a brewing arm to the company and said this could be an avenue for his successor to explore.
He said: “Wet-only is a tiny slice of the action but there’s a definite opportunity as we, Amber Taverns and lots of smaller companies have proven.
“I believe in our ability to find a site, develop it in the right way and promote and operate it with the correct manager. We were 5% up last week. We’d all love to have double-digit growth, but I’ll take 5%.”
