Peach pub company end 2011 with strong trading, plan 2012 openings

The Oxfordshire-based group, which plans to open up to four more pubs this year, saw an overall increase of 23 per cent in sales in December when takings from all pubs opened during 2011 were also taken into account.

Record breaker​

Peach co-founder Hamish Stoddart said 23 December was a record breaker for the group with sales topping £120k that day.

"It was the best we've ever done," he said. "Really it was a culmination of everyone’s hard work throughout the year, with some clever tweaks to our offer and particularly for Christmas that saw the pubs buzzing with guests new and old having a good time, and a push right through to the end of the year.

“We added some great new pubs during the year, with two strong performers in Hertfordshire, The White Horse in Harpenden and Brookmans in Brookmans Park getting off to a flying start in the Peach stable and increasing our foothold in this county."

Former Jean-Christophe Novelli pub​

Peach took over The White Horse in Harpenden from Enterprise Inns in March 2011​ following the departure of its most recent owners at the time Urban & Country. Just two months after the former Jean-Christophe Novelli pub had been taken over, Peach reported they were serving 1,000 covers a week.

Stoddart said Peach planned to build new sites around London, in Hertfordshire and Surrey, as well as potentially bringing Almanack, their gastropub concept, closer to the capital.

"This year we’ll add a further three or four pubs and expect our turnover to hit the £22 million mark," he said.

Peach currently operate 15 pubs. The company reported in July last year that they plan 22 sites by 2013.