Thwaites extends property portfolio

Daniel Thwaites Brewery is expanding its portfolio of pubs after spending about £2m on five properties in the north of England.

The company, celebrating its 200th anniversary year, has announced an initiative to expand its range of pubs, with acquisitions planned for next year.

A total of £1.85m has been spent on the five acquisitions and £259,000 will be spent on refurbishments at four of the pubs, excluding Pwl Gwyn.

The pubs are: the George & Dragon in Ripon; the Commercial in Golcar, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire; Ye Olde Scotch Arms, in Brampton, Cumbria; the Griffin, Market Weighton, North Yorkshire; and the Pwl Gwyn in Mold, Flintshire.

Thwaites customer marketing manager Richard Ball said: "We are delighted with the new acquisitions, which underline our commitment to maintain Thwaites as the leading northern brewer.

"We are constantly looking to add to our pub estate and are particularly excited with these latest purchases.

"Thwaites now has more than 400 pubs in the north of England and in Wales."

Thwaites property manager Malcolm Harrison said: "We're looking for good houses with good profit streams. We planned to acquire 20 sites last year but only got 12 as we have high standards.

"The businesses have to be in good, sustainable communities. The minimum turn-over we'd expect from a pub that might be incorporated into the Thwaites network is £150,000.

"We'd be looking to increase that turnover by a third within the first year.

"The pubs were all fairly good-quality but we plan to invest between £50,000 and £80,000 in each pub: nothing major - just a bit of TLC.

"We are also considering creating letting accommodation in some sites."