Pub Company Hoping To Be Clear Favourite With Punters

The Clear Pub Company has acquired 25 leasehold pubs from pub giant Punch Taverns for an undisclosed sum.

Two former Punch Taverns’ senior managers – Duncan Ward and Andy Wilkinson – have joined forces with Andrew Lawton Smith from Wragge & Co – to launch The Clear Pub Company.

Birmingham-based Orbis Partners engineered the deal which will see 25 major pub sites, including 14 large pubs and 11 city taverns, being the foundation of a major force in pub retailing.

The sites, which have a combined turnover of nearly £14m and staff of over 400, are spread throughout the UK. Three of the pubs are located close to Birmingham – in Lichfield, Coleshill and Portway, near Redditch.

Duncan Ward is Managing Director and Andrew Wilkinson is Operations Director of The Clear Pub Company. Both have over 15 years experience in leisure and retail, working for Whitbread, Safeway, Bass and Punch.

Andrew Lawton Smith completes the board of directors as the investing Non-Executive Chairman.

The strategy of the new company is to grow the portfolio to around 100 outlets in the next three to five years through freehold and leasehold acquisition.

“This is an exciting venture for the management team and the sites will soon be benefiting from Duncan and Andy’s experience and enthusiasm. I am looking forward to supporting them to achieve their business plan. We are delighted to have invested alongside management as part of our own business strategy and add to our portfolio of investments”
Toby Arrowsmith, Associate Director

“The opportunity to acquire a group of such high quality sites rarely presents itself. All of the outlets have a good food offering and are well located to serve the local community. The larger suburban sites will be branded Cookhouse and provide a value food offering to customers. The city taverns will be unbranded and will focus on high quality local produce, cask ales, wines and coffees.”
Duncan Ward, Managing Director of The Clear Pub Company

“The acquisition of this chain is a fantastic achievement for a new company and an endorsement of the management’s capabilities and vast experience in the pub sector. We are delighted to provide funding for these acquisitions and look forward to supporting the team with their expansion plans for the future.”
Sid Muir, Senior Manager – Corporate Business at Allied Irish Bank in Birmingham

Allied Irish Bank provided the funding in the deal. Heidi Hendon, Kate Hall and Rick Smyth at Harvey Ingram acted as legal advisors to The Clear Pub Company.