Young’s to acquire Lucky Onion pubs
As first reported by The Times, Young's is buying six of the seven properties, including No 38 The Park, a boutique 13-bedroom hotel set in a Georgian townhouse in Cheltenham; and The Wheatsheaf, a 17th century coaching inn in Northleach, which, in addition to a bar and restaurant, has 14 bedrooms.
The deal does not include No.131 The Promenade, a hotel in Cheltenham.
Other pubs in the group include The Tavern in Cheltenham, The Crown in Minchinhampton, The Hollow Bottom in Cheltenham and The Wild Duck at Ewen, Cirencester.
Lucky Onion was owned by Superdry co-founder Julian Dunkerton, who is looking to focus on turning around the fortunes of the fashion retailer.
The business was founded in 2006 by Sam Pearman, a former Gloucester Rugby player, and his wife Georgie, a former lawyer at Allen & Overy, who sold it to Dunkerton and his wife Jade in 2017.
Lucky Onion was reportedly hit hard by the pandemic, forcing it to cut the number of employees from 94 to 66.
Young’s, which has two pubs in the Cotswolds — the Bell at Stow-on-the-Wold and the Blue Boar in Chipping Norton — is expanding its managed pub and hotel business after last year’s sale of 56 tenanted pubs for £53m to Punch Pubs. It has 211 managed houses, including 30 hotels.
The London-based pub company also recently acquired The Bull in Ditchling, East Sussex.
