Hall & Woodhouse grows pub estate with four acquisitions

Hall & Woodhouse, which brews a range of beers under the Badger Ales brand, currently has a growing estate of more than 260 tenanted and managed pubs on the South Coast.

The four new sites for the independent family company are in Bristol, Portishead, Milford on Sea and Melksham. The acquisitions come after the business won a Best Tenanted/Leased Pub Company award at the Publican Awards 2012​ and recently completed construction of a new £5m brewery.

Bath flagship​

Just over two years ago Hall & Woodhouse opened a new bar and restaurant, serving over 200 covers, in a former auction house in Bath - this venue has now become a flagship site for the operator. Of the four new acquisitions, the Portishead site, which will be a two-storey new build, will echo many of the design and service elements of the Bath operation.

Anthony Woodhouse, managing director at Hall & Woodhouse said the company was pleased to have acquired locations that would fit the company brand.

"Each location has been hand-picked for both their strong and sustainable trading potential and their ability to enhance the quality of our public house estate.  Our ability to acquire such sites is built on solid organic growth, our confidence in our public house concepts and the development of industry-leading people development, food quality and cost management processes," he said.

Mid-scale​

The Portishead venue, overlooking the marina will open in November and will be built in-part with shipping containers to reflect the dock-side location. Part of the building will also act as an all-day club house for the marina, providing services and accommodation to staff and crew of the boats using the area. 

The Westover Hall Hotel in Milford on Sea, with views of the Needles, was purchased earlier this month and has been re-named The Beach House and will serve a mid-scale pub and restaurant offering with rooms.  

The as yet unnamed sites in Bristol and Melksham, the latter a new-build for the company, will also be positioned as mid-scale pub and restaurants and are both located on roundabouts near to busy roads and neighbourhoods. 

"At the same time as confidently investing in our company’s infrastructure by building a new brewery and acquiring substantial public houses, we are ensuring that we develop the right teams to make our guests’ visit to one of our public houses the highlight of their day," Woodhouse added.