Burtonwood considers plans for acquisitions

Pub operator Burtonwood Brewery is considering "several acquisition opportunities" while sales at its existing pubs continue to grow.

It said it was currently evaluating packages of pubs to see if they were of good enough quality and had potential to earn good incomes.

The Cheshire-based company also announced that new bottling facilities were to be built at its Burtonwood headquarters.

Two years ago, it became a focused pub operator by splitting its brewing operations into a separate joint venture with Dorset brewer Thomas Hardy.

Thomas Hardy Burtonwood intends to exploit the growing demand for bottled beers, lagers and flavoured alcoholic beverages, such as Smirnoff Ice.

Speaking at Burtonwood's annual meeting today (July 26), Burtonwood chairman Richard Gilchrist said: "We believe Thomas Hardy Burtonwood will generate excellent returns by installing bottling facilities which should also improve the company's chances of winning brewing contracts.

"To provide the space, Burtonwood will resite its own warehousing and distribution operations and we are in negotiations to move to new premises in the area."

He said this move would not affect the in-house distribution agreements for its own estate of nearly 500 pubs.

Hot weather helped to boost trading for the pubs in April, May and June, with sales up by 1.7 per cent over the 13-week period.

Sales in its tenanted estate were particularly strong, showing growth of 4.2 per cent while sales in the managed houses were flat compared to the same time last year.

"The market remains competitive and the weather has recently been disappointing," Mr Gilchrist said. "But, thanks to the efforts of all our staff, we have had an encouraging start to the financial year."

Burtonwood has been seen as a possible buyer of several major rivals over the past few years, including Cumbrian brewer Jennings Brothers and former pubco Paramount. This year, it bought seven tenancies from Scottish & Newcastle and another one from Enterprise Inns.

Related stories:

Investment protects Burtonwood from tough trading (June 18, 2001)

Burtonwood buys seven pubs from S&N (May 4, 2001)