Upham Pub Company has doubled its debt facility with HSBC as it seeks further growth into 2017, MCA has learnt.
Finance director Robb Harris told MCA that the group was close to securing its 17th site and remained on track to grow to between 25 and 30 sites by 2020.
He said the group, which was eyeing an IPO prior to Brexit, was still keeping its options open about potential exits for its investors.
The group most recently opened the Station House in Haslemere, which Harris said represented a new kind of model for the group.
The site, which is opposite the railways station, also operates as a café and specialises in light bites.
He said like-for-likes sales continued to track at around 3% up and that the group had seen record bookings for Christmas.
On future expansion, he said: “We are keen to grow in our heartland – which essentially runs between Oxford and Southampton and 50 miles either way – so there’s lots of scope. We are at legals on what we hope will be our next pub, which is a going concern rather than a significant refurb.
“We have a lot of investment projects lined up for the year but we remain acquisitive and the extension of the debt facility with HSBC means we have the firepower to do that.”
