The new joint managing director of McMullen has told MCA that the group is broadening its geography for growth and looking to extend its accommodation offer.
The group is also looking at conversions of retail units and has started the process of de-branding its Baroosh cocktail bar estate.
The Hertforshire brewer and pub operator last week announced that Heydon Mizon had been promoted from retail director to lead the company alongside Tom McMullen.
He told MCA that the split of responsibilities would see McMullen focus on the brewery while Mizon runs the pub estate.
This year McMullen opened new-build site the King’s Mead in Chadwell Springs Golf Club, in Ware and will launch another new build in Colchester in November/December. Last week the group took back the lease of the White Swan, near Vauxhall Bridge, from Greene King, having acquired the freehold six years ago. Mizon said the pub would be traded in its current form for the rests of the year before a refurbishment.
He said trading so far this year had been better than expected with growth against a record year last year on both a total and like-for-like basis. He said wet sales were up c3%, while food had increased c1.5%.
He said the focus for growth would remain on its managed estate, although, as with the White Swan, the group would take on pubs with existing leases.
He added: “As it stands accommodation is not nearly as big a part of the business as you would expect. We have one hotel with 30 bedrooms and that’s it. We are looking at the potential for accommodation and at what level it makes sense to invest in that - whether it’s worth having 15 rooms or whether we should only have 40.
“We are also looking at properties that aren’t currently trading assets – shops, banks etc. We bought a shop recently and some other non-trading assets that we would eventually hope to turn into licensed outlets when the opportunity arises. New builds and conversions are also a focus.
“We would go as far out as Suffolk and down as far as Maidenhead/Reading, where we already own some pubs which we lease out. Everyone wants to be in London but it’s about finding the right sites.”
The first re-branding of a Baroosh was launched earlier this month in Chelmsford, with the format largely the same but the re-christened the Bootmaker, a reference to the building’s former use as a cobbler’s. Mizon said the group was now considering whether to do a similar re-branding on the Hertford Baroosh.
