Pub giant Punch has completed the acquisition of seven pubs from Heartstone Inns this week, which are based across the South West of England.
The pubs include The Cricketers, The Diggers Rest (pictured), The King Alfred, The Owl, The Pelican, The Bathurst Arms and The Talbot.
Heartstone Inns, established in 2007, owns pubs located in stunning beauty spots across Southern England. The pubs have a strong reputation for quality food and drink served in a traditional, relaxed atmosphere, with great service.
Heartstone will continue to operate its remaining eight pubs following the sale of these seven pubs to Punch.
Punch’s Chief Executive Officer, Clive Chesser said, “We are pleased to welcome these seven wonderful pubs into the Punch family and look forward to working together with our new Publicans and their teams. We would like to thank Heartstone Inns who have been working closely with us to ensure a smooth transition for everyone.
'We have plans to invest in all seven pubs during 2020, providing them with industry-leading support to allow them to flourish, whilst ensuring that they continue to operate at the very heart of their local communities. We will provide further updates as these plans progress, but in the meantime, the pubs continue to be open and trading as usual.”
James Birch, Managing Director of Heartstone Inns, added “We are delighted to have sold seven of our pubs to Punch. As a result, we can continue to develop and expand our remaining estate of large food-led managed pubs. We would like to thank our transferring staff for their loyalty and hard work and wish them, their customers and Punch the very best for the future.”
Heartstone Inns was advised by Neil Morgan of Christie & Co on the transaction.
Punch owns and operates c.1,250 pubs across England, Scotland and Wales. It has ambitious plans to unlock the potential in pubs, and possibilities for entrepreneurs and communities across the UK by investing over £34m in its people and pubs in the next year.