List of all posts by user:

This is a bit of an awkward one, as generalisations are never good substitutions for paid advice based on in depth investigations.  The terms of the lease are the most important point as these will impact your rent review, and the value and marketability of your lease in the future.  You must also consider how the turnover is made up eg percentage wet to food to accommodation.  Then there is the style of operation, this identifies the costs involved, a town centre sports venue bar is likely to have SKY costs, Doormen costs, and the costs of promotions which will mean the profits are lower and the net divisible balance is therefore lower..... Given the information provided, it is impossible to suggest a fair rent, but percentages for tied leases vary from say 8% of net turnover to as high as 14% for a pub with a high amount of business from letting rooms.  In general 10-11% for a pub with reasonble costs, and a good wet trade and some food has historically been a good bench mark, but please dont rely on this, take paid advice, especially on a new lease where your advocate can negotiate the rent to take into consideration the current economic climate and all the points detailed. Best of Luck Regards Chris Pub Innsite Ltd

I believe Bar Sport are good at what they do, they target their core audience well, and provide an offer that is specific to that audience.  They have a good team that work hard, and deserve to succeed.  There is an element of good timing here in that they should be able to acheive better terms from landlords and get some cracking deals in a contracting property market.  Certainly worth looking into if you are considering a high street operation.

As a general point I would clarify that Graham Alman (although good) is not the only agent able to provide a sale and leaseback option, however Pub Innsite, in some situations, can provide a free of tie leaseback without any fees to the vendor!  Clearly there are terms and conditions (a significant premium for the lease is required for one, but this can be "returned" on sale) but there are some "property companies" that dont want the hassle of dealing with beer.  So far as Pub Co's Power is concerned, I recognise there is a place for low cost entry into the sector, however poor tenants and poor area managers will lead to business failure, and in an economy like the one we are experiencing, there is very little forgiveness regarding mistakes made by either party, in a rising market mistakes can be papered over.  Getting the government involved in trying to legislate us out of an economic issue isnt the answer, in fact it's what gave us the pub co's in the first place. Sorry if this is a repeat of other views, but I havent had the time to review all the pages of opinion on this topic!  

I believe that deal still represents the best price acheived last year for such hard barrelage, and all due credit to S&NPE for being able to handle it.

I would agree that the Beer Orders was a complete failure and had an unforeseen result which many would consider more unfair than the original situation.  But surely using legislation AGAIN to try and sort out a situation caused by legislation in the first place could lead to further unforseen results that could be worse than those in place now!  Would this just be a cynical attempt by a politician to go for a vote winning exercise? As a believer in the free market system, I think politicians should learn by previous mistakes and give time for things to settle down, I feel that good operators are in short supply and this could lead to the playing field tipping in their favour, expecially if they take advice from a professional. Regards Chris Director Pub Innsite Ltd