Old Monk's Martin in comeback
by Mike Bennett Old Monk founder Gerry Martin is back in business with the surprise acquisition of three pubs from the administrator charged with selling his former company's assets. And he hinted there could be more to come as he tries to rebuild his career as a major player in licensed retailing. Martin, younger brother of JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim, has bought two Springboks in Cardiff and Birmingham and an Old Monk-branded pub in Sheffield which he plans to convert to the sports bar concept. "I don't really know yet whether we will be in the market for any other pubs," he told the Morning Advertiser. "We're considering our options but it's too early to say." Martin would not reveal how much he paid. He has called his new venture Springbok Bars the name he'd chosen for the revamped Old Monk operation had he been able to go through with his plans. He is running it with wife Michele, a chartered accountant, and has secured debt funding from Barclays. Old Monk was scuppered in October by main financial backer Royal Bank of Scotland pulling the plug following well documented financial difficulties, and Martin was left with no option but to wind up the company he had launched in 1994. The business was placed into the hands of administrator Anthony Spicer at insolvency specialist Smith & Williamson. Spicer now has only a handful of Old Monk sites to off-load, having disposed of a clutch of nine to Puzzle Pub Co, seven to Barracuda and single units to Shepherd Neame, and Fuller's, which bought a waterside site in Winchester, Hampshire.
