Press Releases
Christie Finance assists Old English Taverns with third pub acquisition
Old English Taverns has just acquired its third site, the Knife & Cleaver ‘restaurant with rooms’ in the village of Houghton Conquest, Bedfordshire, through the Milton Keynes office of leading restaurant agents, Christie + Co, while funding for the purchase was secured through Christie Finance, the independent mortgage broker.
The Knife and Cleaver, an established destination dining venue, was placed on the market with Christie + Co by proprietors, David and Pauline Loom, at a freehold asking price of £1.2m and sold for an undisclosed figure.
Mr and Mrs Loom, who are retiring from the restaurant sector, purchased the inn in 1989 and were joined by their son, Rupert, as Manager in 2005. The successful purchasers are Steve Frangos and Mike Holton of Old English Taverns, a relatively new and expanding company.
The Knife & Cleaver is an established destination dining venue which has been awarded two AA Rosettes and is recommended in many top guides, including the Michelin Red Guide 2008, the Good Pub Guide 2008, the Which? Guide to Country Pubs and The Guardian’s Bed and Breakfast Directory 2008.
This charming, 17th Century country inn is located opposite the village church in Houghton Regis, which lies just off the A6, two miles from the market town of Ampthill, six miles from Bedford and 15 miles from Milton Keynes.
The substantial, detached, character property retains many original features, including an inglenook fireplace, beamed ceilings and Jacobean oak-paneling from Houghton House (John Bunyan’s ‘House Beautiful’ in The Pilgrim’s Progress). It briefly comprises a restaurant to seat 70, a bar to seat 40, a snug to seat 12, nine letting bedrooms, a car park and an attractive garden. Three of the letting rooms are situated within a converted Victorian stable block.
Carl Steer, restaurants negotiator of the Milton Keynes office of Christie + Co, comments: “We are delighted to have sold the Knife & Cleaver after nearly 20 years in the hands of the Loom family to Old English Taverns as their third site.
Old English Taverns purchased its first pub, the Pullman Inn in the Nottinghamshire Wolds, through our Nottingham office in 2007 and then acquired the Buckingham Arms in Maids Morton, Buckingham. All of its purchases were financed by Christie + Co’s associate company, Christie Finance. The company aims to add around five more pubs in the coming 12 months.
Our marketing of the Knife & Cleaver attracted three offers in the first two months and the sale took just nine weeks to go through, demonstrating the strong demand for top freehold dining venues in the northern Home Counties.”
For further information please contact Carl Steer in
Christie + Co’s Milton Keynes office on Tel: 01908
300950
Our Ref: MK433
