Pub People Co has purchase the freehold of the Greasley Castle pub in Eastwood, Nottingham from Greene King, as it grows its estate to 60.
Andrew Crawford told MCA it was a small community pub, which the company is going to convert to one of its Cask Ale orientated sites.
As part of its Autumn contract with Downing, it also purchased the Half Moon at Worksop in Derbyshire – also through Greene King – earlier this summer.
Crawford that while he had no target in mind in terms of numbers of openings “we have got our eye on a number of freehold and leasehold opportunities, particularly with Star Pubs & Bars”.
He added that the business was looking to dispose of a couple of its smaller community pubs that have been tenanted for some time. He said they are trading quite well, they are not at the levels of some of its newer and better invested sites, and are “probably suited to an individual operator rather than a multiple operator”.
“Generally the tail we have is very short, as most of the pubs are doing well,” he said. “We have traded very steadily throughout the summer with the World Cup, both on wet and dry, our food sales have remained robust and our wet sales have been encouraging. I would say we have performed over and above the market place,” added Crawford.
He said the business had been focused hard on the premiumisation of its lagers, and has seen a good performance from Moretti and Estrella. “We have introduced Camden beers into some sites on a trial basis, which has been successful,” he added.
