Brunning and Price Come to Blacknest, Alton

Brunning and Price have announced the acquisition of the Jolly Farmer in Blacknest.

It will be in good company as Brunning and Price also own The Mill House in Hook, The Leather Bottle in Mattingley and The Refectory in Godalming, all just a short drive away.

Mary Willcock, CEO for Brunning and Price said ‘’Following a relatively quiet 2024 in terms of acquisitions, I am delighted that we are actively back on the hunt for new B&P pubs this year. The Jolly Farmer has the potential to be a fabulous little country pub and sits in a strong location for us in an area that we already know pretty well.

We plan to crack on and start renovations in early August so that we can have it open in plenty of time for Christmas. We are, however, thinking perhaps a name change is in order. This feels like a new start for the pub and so with the guidance of the local community have decided to call it, ‘The Barn Owl’.

It’s fantastic to see the ‘B&P family’ family growing again. Whilst the recent acquisition of 10 pubs from Oakman Inns is certainly keeping us busy, we now have the financing structures and support team in place to step up the number of single site acquisitions.

Alongside this, we are finally going to get going with the Mallard in Tidbury Green, near Solihull. This is a complex project that we’ve been working on for several years in terms of getting the planning and build costs right, but we now expect to be opening in early Autumn 2026, much to the delight of the locals who have been a fantastic support over the years. We can’t wait to finally give them their new local!”

Both pubs will need a host of crew to work within them, creating around 50 positions in each. We start our look-out for friendly, capable people who will form our team, right now. There will be lots of exciting job opportunities available, including management, chefs, front of house, cleaners and gardeners.