Young's procures three sites from Marston’s Revere
The firm has obtained Libertine in Bournemouth, the White Hart in North Chippenham and the White Lion in Tenterden, Kent, all of which are freehold properties with outdoor trading and bedrooms.
Young’s CEO Simon Dodd said: “We are delighted to add these three iconic pubs to our estate. Having acquired several pubs in the South of England in recent years.
“These freehold sites have great potential and fit with our strategy of operating and expanding our premium, well-invested predominantly freehold pub estate.”
Major projects
The new sites join Young’s existing estate of more than 200 properties across the South of England and are “in line with its proven strategy to continue to invest in its future growth”, the pubco stated.
Last week saw Young’s announce it was “optimistic” about the year ahead with revenue for the first 13 weeks of 2023 up 8.3% in total and up 6.8% on a like-for-like (lfl) basis versus 2022.
The company’s non-executive chair, Steve Goodyear, who recently announced he would be stepping down following the company’s 2024 Annual General Meeting and will succeeded by Steve Cooke, added the firm was “already seeing the benefits” of last year’s acquisitions.
Goodyear continued: “We will also benefit from the significant investments we made in our existing estate, with major projects at the Marquess of Anglesey (Covent Garden), Hare & Hounds (East Sheen), Hort’s Townhouse (Bristol) – which reopened in March with an additional 19 bedrooms – and the Clapham North (Clapham), which will be opening in August of this year.”
Testament to hard work
In addition, earlier this year the pubco revealed it had invested almost £60m into its estate during the last financial year, spending £24m on acquisitions and a further £34.4m across its existing sites.
Managed pub like-for-like revenue also increased by more than a tenth (12.9%) in the 53 weeks to 3 April this year.
Dodd said: “Young’s is a business that places investment in its people and pubs at the heart of its decision making.
“These results are testament to the hard work of our teams over the past few years.”
