Young’s-owned pub operator Geronimo Inns plans to add around five pubs per year, co-founder Rupert Clevely has said as Geronimo takes back control of its first ever site.
The Chelsea Ram on King’s Road has been transferred to Geronimo from Young’s tenanted division and is due to re-open next month
Rupert and Jo Clevely, and her then-partner Nick Elliott, originally took on the pub in 1995 as a Young’s tenancy. The Clevelys later left the pub with Elliott, who, in 2002 assigned the tenancy to James Symington, who had worked for him and the Clevelys in the past.
Young’s, which bought Geronimo in December 2010, has decided to transfer the pub back to Geronimo and it’s now run as a managed house.
Rupert Clevely said: “The Chelsea Ram was our very first pub. Seventeen years later, having sold our business to Young’s we find ourselves in the enviable position of bringing it back to the fold.”
He told M&C Report that he didn’t expect any more Young’s pubs to be transferred to Geronimo, which currently operates 33 outlets as a division of Young’s run by the Clevelys.
“We will be looking to add more pubs to the portfolio, that’s why we opened the Oyster Shed in the City [in January] and we have others planned.
“We will add businesses where we can and we would like to open about five per year.” However, Clevely added that he “wouldn’t necessarily put a limit on it”.
The Chelsea Ram is to re-open after a refurbishment that has included a new Club Room that’s available for private hire.
Jo Clevely said: “It is fresher and brighter, with books and vine root sculpture, and I am using the same type of carpet as I used in 1995. The exterior has a new smart charcoal and cream awning and the paintwork is fresh cream with dark grey doors.”
