Client: British Waterways
British Waterways is the organisation responsible for maintaining the UK’s inland waterways. Four years ago, it made a decision to explore the potential business development opportunity for developing a waterside pub portfolio.
Whilst British Waterways had a ready stock of existing pubs and properties suitable for development, they also recognised that they lacked the in-house expertise associated with managing and developing a public house estate. lt sought to enter into a joint venture with a private sector company, and appointed our leisure team as external valuation and property advisers.
Solution
Our team took British Waterways through the process from start to finish:
- Firstly, we identified the most appropriate opportunities in its portfolio for inclusion in the sales prospectus, and provided a valuation appraisal of 65 pubs and development sites
- We created the relevant tender documentation on each individual pub and development site, and assisted throughout the marketing and subsequent evaluation of the various bidders
- Following a rigorous selection process, Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprise were recommended as the JV partner
- Finally, we formalised the deal by valuing the portfolio for the JV vehicle and the bank financing the deal, Lloyds TSB
The Waterside Pub Partnerships’ portfolio is now a mixture of leased pubs and potential redevelopment opportunities. Lloyds TSB continues to instruct our leisure team to independently value potential new sites on their suitability for inclusion within the JV structure.
The results
The Waterside Pub Partnership was established in 2005. It provides British Waterways with regular rental income, and optimises the latent potential for its pubs and related development sites, allowing the organisation to re-invest its profits into maintaining and improving the UK’s canals and rivers.
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