Whitbread sells stake in Pure
According to an update filed on Companies House, the Beefeater, Bar + Block and Brewers Fayre owner ceased being a person with significant control of Healthy Retail Ltd, which trades as Pure, on 22 December 2023.
In a statement, a Whitbread spokesperson said: “As Pure was not a core part of Whitbread’s strategy, the group has sold its interest to a third party.”
Whitbread acquired a 49% stake in Healthy Retail Ltd back in 2016 for £6.8m.
At the time, Pure operated eight locations across London. Its estate now encompasses a total of 18 sites in the capital including two catering hubs, and a single outpost within Gatwick Airport’s North Terminal.
The group was founded in 2009 by Spencer Craig and Edward Bentley, with the former continuing to lead the business.
In its most recent accounts for the year ended 29 December 2022, Healthy Retail Ltd reported a year-on-year sales increase of 108% to £20m.
However, the group swung to a pre-tax loss of £4.5m for the period, up from a loss of £3.4m the year before, with Craig noting that food price inflation and electricity prices, in particular, have had a detrimental impact on the company’s margins and overheads.
