Pub property company collapses

Pub property company Provence and its managed arm Countrywide Inns have collapsed, according to sources close to the firms.

A spokesman for property agents Ashton Lawley, which is handling the sale of some Countrywide Inns' pubs, said Peter Kiely, who runs the managed company, had confirmed to him that both companies had folded. Peter Kiely is the brother of the founder of Provence, Paul Kiely.

Reports have also been received that the head offices of both Bolton-based Provence and Countrywide Inns are closed for business.

According to an inside source at Countrywide Inns, head office staff were told by Peter Kiely on October 24 that the company was being dissolved.

However, despite promises they would be paid their salary, there are claims that staff have not been paid.

One head office staff member, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Publican: "We were all informed on Tuesday, October 24, that the company was being dissolved. We were supposed to be paid on Thursday, October 26, but have received nothing.

"I have just been to the Provence offices in Bolton and they are empty. There is nobody there at all."

All efforts by The Publican to contact Provence have proven fruitless. No-one is answering calls at its head office. Staff members' mobile phones are going directly to voicemail and no-one is answering at Paul Kiely's home telephone number.

Reports are also filtering in that pubs run by Countrywide Inns were being closed down last week after staff were given 14 days' notice.

Peter Kiely is also a director, of Bolton-based Birchwood Leisure.

Have you been affected by the failure of Provence and Countrywide Inns? Contact us at news@ thepublican.com or call 020 7955 3714

How Provence operated​

A tactic said to be employed by Provence was the 'back-to-back' deal. This would see the group bid the asking price for a freehold pub being marketed by a property agent, only to sell it at auction - often on the same day - with a lease attached which purported to have been granted to a third party some years before.

This strategy was designed to give the prospective buyer confidence and suited the vendor, who was able to realise a price that had not been subject to lengthy negotiation. However, leading property agents take the view that the sale would not have completed had a lease not been 'offered'.

"This is very much a case of 'buyer beware'," said one agent boss. "If you buy at an auction you're sticking your hand up and buying into something that's costing hundreds of thousands of pounds. If you buy something on the basis that it has got a lease paying £35,000 in rental income and it turns out it hasn't, it can be a major problem."