Sands snaps up Wessex to create Definnitive

by The PMA Team

Former Pubmaster boss John Sands has bought the 30-strong Wessex Taverns out of administration for around £20m. The deal will mean that all Wessex Taverns creditors will receive every penny they are owed - around £2m in total.

Wessex Taverns had a turnover of £16.5m before it went into administration in March - Sands had become its non-executive director six weeks before.

Sands' new company will be called Definnitive Leisure - he will be its non-executive chairman - with former Wessex operations director Harry Costigan becoming its managing director. Sands said: 'These are very good pubs but there has been under-investment. We will invest in them to get them up to speed and then look at other opportunities.'

He also paid tribute to the support shown by the Bank of Scotland during the administration process.

'While the time in administration has been intense and, on occasion, a little uncertain, the company has come through the process unscathed, thanks in no small part to Bank of Scotland, who have been extremely helpful through these testing times.

'I'm also particularly pleased that purchasing the company as a share sale we can honour creditors to the business, many of whom are locally-based north-east companies.'

Wessex Taverns is a managed operator with sites such as Bacchus and Club 2K in Darlington and the Hairy Lemon/Prague and Vienna in Middlesbrough.

Former Pubmaster financial controller John Foots will become Definnitive's finance director while Philippa Kelly and Bill Teesdale are its non-executive directors. Definnitive's 30 pubs stretch between Alnwick in Northumberland, London and Wiltshire in the west.

Sands was in charge of Hartlepool-based Pubmaster until it was bought two years ago by Punch for £1.9bn. He currently chairs the North East Tourism Advisory Board, but spends a lot of his time at his home in France.