Pub company acquires five former Bramwell sites
STONEGATE Pub Company, the group behind brands such as Yates’s, Scream and Slug and Lettuce, has purchased five Scottish pubs from the former Bramwell estate.
As part of a deal to acquire 78 Bramwell sites across the UK, Stonegate has snapped up The First Edition in Kilmarnock, The Exchequer in Kirkcaldy, The Caledonian in Inverness, The Sandeman in Perth and The Ballencrief in Bathgate.
Bramwell, which operated 185 sites across the UK, was placed into administration late last month.
The acquisitions follow Stonegate’s purchase of bar group The Living Room, which has outlets in Glasgow and Edinburgh, in August and brings the company’s Scottish estate up to 26 properties.
“We don’t believe that there is any crossover between the new sites and our current existing properties,” said Stonegate chief executive Toby Smith.
“For us, the attraction of purchasing these sites is that it enables us to trade in towns and cities where we were underrepresented.
“We’re delighted to say that our estate now reaches from Plymouth to Inverness.”
Smith said it is currently too early for the company to comment on plans for any of the new Scottish sites – including whether they will be folded into any of the company’s existing brands – but claimed the deal has saved 107 jobs across the five locations.
“We are very optimistic and, more importantly, excited about the health of the pub market in Scotland,” he said.
“We now have 26 sites in Scotland where brands such as Yates’s, Slug and Lettuce and Missoula are represented along with a number of unbranded pubs.
“We’ve invested over £1 million in our Scottish sites in the last 12 months, including Home and The Merchant in Glasgow and Triplekirks in Aberdeen, and we are in the process of investing over £116,000 in the Goose in Falkirk, which opens to the public [this week].”
