Hawthorn, the Community Pub Company, has today announced the acquisition of 14 community pubs from Everards of Leicestershire, the pub operator and family brewer. The pubs are predominantly located in suburban and neighbourhood locations in the East Midlands.
Mark Davies, CEO of Hawthorn, The Community Pub Company said, “We are really pleased to announce the purchase of 14 high quality community pubs from Everards. All of the pubs which are fully let have been very well operated by Everards and its Business Owners and we share a strong community ethos with Everards that makes this a seamless transaction for both parties. It’s been great to get to know Stephen Gould and the Everards team through the transaction and to get a deal done during lockdown. The relationship we have built and partnership formed is something that will benefit both Companies in the future. My team and I are looking forward to meeting the Business Owners and welcoming them to Hawthorn.”
Stephen Gould, Managing Director of Everards said “Following a review of our pub estate, we presented 14 pubs as an acquisition opportunity to Mark and his team and are pleased to get a deal done during lockdown. The whole team at Hawthorn have been a delight to work with and I know that our Business Owners will be in good hands working with a company with similar values to our own. The deal positions Everards well for continued investment into our Pub Estate, Acquisitions and Everards Meadows, our 90-acre Leisure and Tourism development in Leicestershire.”
Hawthorn operates around 700 leased and tenanted, and operator managed, community pubs across England, Scotland and Wales and was advised on the transaction by Colliers.
Hawthorn has provided more than £8m of rent support for its Partners and Operators through the Coronavirus pandemic, in addition to £10m worth of CAPEX investment over the last year to renovate and refurbish pubs ahead of reopening this spring. These support measures have been met with positive feedback from Partners and Operators – during the first lockdown, 97% of them said that Hawthorn met or exceeded expectations, and KAM Media’s recent Licensee Index saw Hawthorn outperform its peers across a wide range of categories, including COVID-19 support (9.2/10), quality of BDM (8.8), and likelihood to recommend the company to other publicans (8.3).
