Oakman Inns and Restaurants has acquired a second hotel in Berkhamsted, the 20-bedroom Penny Farthing, to provide capacity overflow to its existing King’s Arms site in the town which is full mid-week.
The company will close rooms at The Penny Farthing on a phased basis to refurbish them in line with standards at The King’s Arms. Meanwhile, the company is planning to reduce bedrooms at The King’s Arms from 15 to 14 to create a kitchen for its popular function room at the site.
Meanwhile, Oakman has doubled turnover at The Cook and Fillet, Kingswood, Buckinghamshire after adding it to its estate 3 months ago – turnover has increased from £7,500-a-week to £15,000-a-week. The deal involved Borg-Neal reuniting with the former chairman and managing director of Grand Metropolitan Estates Bob Williams, the site owner who was also his boss at Mill House Inns in the 1990s. The Cook and Fillet was formerly named The Crooked Billet and has been developed at a cost of £650,000.