The Puzzle Pub Company has bought nine Old Monk Pub Company

Ten years after being founded, Puzzle Pub Company has taken a quantum leap that will see turnover jump to £11m from the current £5m. Puzzle's progress until now has been characterised by a low-risk approach. Founder Jamie Dutton-Forshaw, 39, and business partner Frances Daley have created a small but perfectly formed estate of six London venues, with all the title deeds firmly in the company's hands. "We're both conservative in business ­ and if the marketplace is iffy, freeholds are a nice place to hide," says Dutton-Forshaw. "But eventually we realised we couldn't expand at any speed." Perhaps it was the opening of their pub in Crystal Palace a year ago that prompted the pair to expand rapidly. Nearly £2m was spent creating an entirely new 4,000 square foot pub behind the existing chemist's shop fascia. The pub opened at about the same time as the 11 September terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. "I thought this probably isn't the best time to be opening a £2m pub but we've had queues from the first night," Dutton-Forshaw remembers. In a new emboldened spirit, Puzzle will follow the Old Monk acquisition shortly, with the purchase of a Yates's wine lodge in north Finchley. Puzzle was founded on £325,000 Dutton-Forshaw raised after selling his house, car and cashing in his endowment policies. "I think everyone thought I'd had a nervous breakdown," he says. The current 150% expansion in the Puzzle group will be guided by the company's abiding regard for value-for-money. In fact, Puzzle looked at buying the 17-strong Jamies Bars but Dutton-Forshaw and Daley could not see the required potential. The Jamies sites are mostly in the City of London and Dutton-Forshaw, a former employee of Schroeders (the merchant bank), believes there has been a change in the spending habits of the City types who make up the customer base. "People there are staying at work longer," he says. "Even the younger members aren't drinking as much as they used to. We looked very carefully at Jamies Bars but we couldn't see the potential for an uplift in sales there." The nine Old Monk sites are a different kettle of fish. "We feel we've got a good deal," he says. "I've been flying around the Old Monk sites like a mad fly for the last few weeks." Puzzle bought the Old Monk sites on relatively historic figures that indicated some sites are making money, while others are not. "I've bought the sites for their potential ­ their location and demographics ­ and disregarded slightly the figures I've been given." Three of the Old Monks have seen refurbishments in the past two years ­ and these will be left for the time being. Harry's Bar, the one non-branded outlet, will also be left to trade in its present form. The remaining five sites will see conversion to the Puzzle brand in the New Year. Puzzle will spend between £500,000 and £1m on the outlets, which, according to Dutton-Forshaw, have been a little bit neglected of late. "I've been getting my mind around prioritising what we want to do first," he says. "We're pretty canny about how we spend our money. There's not going to be a great splurge. Starting the way I did, with very little money, means you always want it to go a long way." Also in the pipeline is an updating of the Puzzle brand itself. The concept trades late with a PEL and offers a contemporary pub ambience, with such modern accoutrements as air-conditioning and low-voltage lighting. The target market is ABC ones and twos, around the 25-year-old mark. "It's a pretty nice target market," says Dutton-Forshaw. Its food offer, which generates 15% of turnover, centres on good quality, fresh produce. "The menu's not vast but the food is at a standard I'm proud of ­ without ever generating vast profit." Now an interior designer has been commissioned to move the offer forward. "It's been quite static for the last five years ­ so it's time to move it on." "We now need to look again at market trends and what the competition is doing. I'd like to steal a slight march and create a bit more of a wow factor." Puzzle has increased its gearing "quite substantially" to fund the Old Monk acquisition and refurbishment programme. The expansion programme has received the full backing of the company's minority shareholder, Scottish Courage. The company bought a 14% stake in the company three years ago after it decided to experiment with an equity stake in smallish pubcos ­ the company also has a stake in London-based Interpub. Puzzle had been looking for venture capital investors when it found its beer supplier wanted to climb on board. Scottish Courage is now looking to extend its Puzzle deal for a further five years after its existing arrangement finishes in two years' time. "We're very happy with the whole situation," says Dutton-Forshaw. "The deal they gave us wasn't a lot better than one we could have got from venture capitalists but we couldn't do any better in terms of the support we get and their brands. It was also very flattering when they said they wanted to put money in. And I'd have thought they're very pleased about the return on capital they've had in the past three years." The next year will be spent integrating the Old Monk acquisition, before Puzzle looks to expand further. "We are not going to run before we can walk," says Dutton-Forshaw. "The idea is a year of consolidation ­ to prove we made a wise purchase.