Bulldog set for expansion
Bulldog Pub Company is to expand in the three-star hotel market after disposing of its pubco leases.
The company, headed by Kevin Charity, is to adopt an operating company/property company structure after securing "substantial" external funding.
The company has retained three freehold hotel sites and has written to major property agents outlining its requirements. Bulldog is using its pub experience to create a pubby feel in bar areas while offering boutique hotel "cues" at three-star prices in bedrooms.
Charity said: "We are looking for town-centre hotels/inns with high footfall. Each property would be seen as the town's focal point, the hotel any local person would recommend to a stranger.
"Obtaining hotels in a great condition would be ideal, but we are expecting most to need various levels of capital investment. We have split the ownership of our property from the management. This will give us far more options.
"Rooms will offer boutique quality at three-star prices while still enabling customers to experience a relaxed pub feel in the bar areas - and they will be able to eat great food at sensible prices."
Bulldog is looking to buy hotels with a minimum of 20 bedrooms and a maximum of up to 70 bedrooms. The company's current hotels include the White Hart in Boston, Lincolnshire, and the Old Bridge, Holmfirth, Yorkshire.
Charity added: "Operating wet-led and high-street venues is over for the small multiples. The only long-term survivors will be individuals who put their life and soul into it, and the large-scale multiples who get 'economies of scale'."
