Andrew Buchanan, director of pub operations for Thwaites, has told M&C the company sees the potential to operate 250 rooms across its estate.
Buchanan said the company planned to submit a planning application for eight to ten rooms at The Royal in Heysham – one of two pubs purchased from Mitchells of Lancaster earlier this month.
He said accommodation potential would continue to be a focus for acquisitions going forward and that the company would seek to add more rooms to the current 180 across the tenanted estate.
Buchanan also said Thwaites was primed for expansion in its pubs, hotels and a Inns of Character division, with a particular focus on the latter. He told M&C the recent acquisition of former M&B pub the Crown Inn at Pooley Bridge would become the ninth Inns of Character site.
He said the £25m raised from the sale of part of Thwaites beer operations to Marston’s had not changed the company’s attitude to acquisition but meant “we have plenty of firepower”.
He said: “We are always looking for pubs to acquire. We have a well-defined site criteria and if they have multiple income streams we will look at them.
“We are acquisitive across all three strands of the business and we hired an acquisitions manager six months ago – Paul Dale - who is looking at a range of options.”
He said the Mitchells acquisitions - The Royal and The Boot and Shoe in Lancaster - had been attractive propositions because of the multiple income streams they both offered
He said: “We think we can add value to those sites. The Boot and Shoe has a large standalone function suite and a large beer garden. The Royal also has a large beer garden and has the potential for letting accommodation.”
On the importance of accommodation he said: “We have in our tenanted estate 19 pubs with rooms and we have about 180 rooms across those 19 sites so the average is about 10. The largest is 22 rooms. That keeps the focus on the business as a pub but it helps profit growth. It’s a growing market and one we want to make sure we capitalise on.”
“We think we could get up to about 250 rooms within our current estate.
Buchanan said the property market was “beginning to get livelier” and said the company would look at bulk deals if the situation was right.
He also told M&C the company has started to offer turnover related agreements with operators for new pubs but has yet to complete one of these deals.
He said: “We know it’s something we need to do and we are now offering turnover related agreements in certain situations. We need to be market ready. We are already flexible in discounts, f&f arrangements, and in terms but we need to make sure our offer is up there with the best.”
