South West based brewer St Austell Brewery has acquired The Bath Pub Company in a deal which sees St Austell take over the operation of The Bath Pub Company’s four sites, further growing and strengthening its 184-strong West Country pub estate.
The Locksbrook Inn, The Moorfields and The Hare & Hounds bring the total number of sites in St Austell’s managed pub estate to 43. The Marlborough Tavern is now part of the company’s leased and tenanted estate and will continue to be operated by Justin Sleath, The Bath Pub Company’s co-founder and commercial director.
St Austell chief executive Kevin Georgel said: “We’re proud to become the new owners of such a high-quality and well-respected pub company in Bath. We are fully committed to developing the quality and size of our pub estate. As such, we are investing significantly in our existing pubs, while also acquiring new sites and businesses such as The Bath Pub Company. The Locksbrook Inn, The Moorfields, The Hare & Hounds and The Marlborough Tavern all have a strong alignment with our long-term plans and are a perfect fit for us in terms of market and consumer positioning.”
Joe Cussens, managing director and co-founder at The Bath Pub Company, added: “Justin and I are very confident that, as a company which shares our values, St Austell is the custodian best suited for the next stage of The Bath Pub Company’s development. We’re very proud of the business as it is today and know St Austell has the resources and know-how to grow it further to release the full potential of the pubs in the years to come.”
The acquisition further strengthens St Austell’s presence in and around Bath, where it already owns four tenanted pubs, The Griffin, The Swan, The Hop Pole and The Salamander.
The company also acquired Bath Ales in 2017, a deal which included a brewery in Warmley and a local distribution network.
