S&NPE puts 20 freehold pubs on market

Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises (S&NPE) is putting 20 freehold pubs on the market with Fleurets this week.

The pubs are directly owned by S&NPE and the operator said the sale is part of its move to concentrate on its core business model of pub management on behalf of contract partners, rather than on pub ownership.

Spread across the UK from the South West to the Borders, the pubs are mainly in village locations and include community locals, food houses and pubs with letting rooms.

All of the pubs are currently let on substantive agreements ranging from three to 25 years, and are said to be well-established businesses with experienced lessees. Prices start at £125,000 and go up to £725,000.

For example, the Kings Arms at Reeth near Richmond, North Yorkshire, is priced at £725,000. It's in the centre of the village overlooking the green. An eighteenth century coaching inn, it has 10 en-suite letting rooms, two bars and a restaurant as well as private and staff accommodation.

S&NPE property director Chris Moore said: "These are good businesses with proven operators. And we expect this, coupled with their mid market pricing, to make them particularly attractive to local and regional brewers looking to cherry pick pubs in their area."

Simon Hall, agency director of Fleurets, said: "This is an excellent group of properties and very different from the majority of pub company disposals currently hitting the market.

"These are most definitely not failed or unviable public houses, quite the contrary, they are excellent investment properties and we expect a high level of interest as a result."