How to prepare your pub for sale

Simon Hall gave five top tips in selling a pub, with soaring inflation rates causing “caution” in the property sector.

Know your objectives​

“The first thing you need to do is think about your objectives, and your goals – what it is you want to achieve. Some people might say, ‘it's totally about price’,” said Hall. “For some people it's more about timescale, and some people might think it's confidentiality.

“Once you understand the priorities and the goals, you can start setting your objectives and working out your best marketing strategy.”

Curb appeal​

He said the process of selling a pub was not too dissimilar to selling a house. “Presentation and curb appeal [are key], and you’ve got to take the time and put the resources into getting it right. Do those little jobs, finish things off and get it right for sale,” said Hall.

It was all about creating a first impression that the pub was a cared for business, Hall continued. If the provisional buyer walked into the building and saw rotten window frames or minor items of disrepair, they may start wondering if there was anything else that was damaged in the property. This built up an image in their mind of a pub in need of lots of repair.

“So, not alerting them to initial repair items would possibly have them fearing the worst or looking for more faults than there actually are.”

However, if the property was nicely presented, it made the provisional buyer feel more positive. “You might start thinking, ‘I can trade really well here’”, added Hall.

Up-to-date info​

“Make sure your accounting information is up to date. Ideally, you'd have three years profit and loss accounts. With the last three years we've had, it's difficult to produce sensible profit and loss accounts over a 12 month period.

“So, you don't have to spend any more time looking at the pre 2019 figures and comparing them with how they are now even if it's a part your VAT returns, monthly accounts monthly takings, you get whatever you can to try and establish what the levels of trade are now that you're selling the business based on obviously dealing with repairs, then make sure your housekeeping is all in order.”

This could be everything from staff contracts to certification, to compliance documents. Floor plans and site plans also had to be ready.

“What you don't want to do is when you get on the market, you don't have that information to hand so you then lose interest, or you get on the market and agree a sale and you don't have that information and it just drags out through the sale process.”

Get a second opinion​ 

People can be too close to their property that they can't see the wood from the trees, according to Hall.

“We never live in a perfect show house, there are things you put up with and things you don't see after a period of time. A vendor can sometimes be a bit too close to it to really see what the issue is,” he said.

Hall suggested vendors sought out a friend or some third party to come and have a look at the pub and be “brutally honest”.

Choose your agent with care​

“Unfortunately, there's a few agents out there that are massively overpricing properties and effectively buying their instructions,” said Hall.

He added: “If a property is worth £500,000, they might be putting £795,000 on it, just because they will then come across as the most confident agent, the most positive agent or highest price agent, and they'll get the instruction.”