TLC Inns snaps up fifth pub site
Award-winning multi-site pub company TLC Inns has bought its fifth venue.
The company, headed by Steve Haslam and Jo Drain, has bought the Catherine Wheel in Albury, near Ware, Hertfordshire, a Punch freehold, off an asking price of £600,000.
TLC is expecting to invest between £150,000 and £200,000 and re-open the pub in early July.
The pub was rebuilt in 2007 after a fire had razed it to the ground.
It is situated in the wealthy Pelhams area of the county and is the company's second freehold — it acquired the Henny Swan in Great Henny, Suffolk, from Punch Taverns last year.
TLC also runs three Enterprise Inns sites — the White Horse in Ramsden Heath, Essex; the Cutter, in Ely, Cambridgeshire; and the Windmill Tavern, in Orton Waterville, Peterborough, also in Cambridgeshire.
Haslam said: "The menu will sit midway between the mainstream White Horse menu and the Henny Swan — top-end of the middle market. It's also a big thanks to Barclays, which turned this deal around in 12 days."
TLC has won multiple honours at the Great British Pub Awards — and Haslam won Best Individual in last year's MA200 Awards for multi-site retailers.
