I spent an excellent couple of hours yesterday discussing the potential of the broadway. Obviously I cannot move straight into this venue but, with slow progress being made, I think that I could run it under a manager. The thing with operating under a manager is that the business is only being held that means that it isn’t growing but also that it’s prone to attack from competition. But if an opportunity presents then it may give the resource I need to cover the remaining pause time.
The broadway is an interesting building and offers at least three, probably four, letting rooms which is a big plus for me. Despite the best eyes in the business we can’t fathom the financials on the business which, of course, means we can’t arrive at the asking price. A combination of google earth, two sets of sales details and Facebook allowed us to conclude that the ground floor cellar led to a horrible pipe run to the central bar, probably installed when beer was cheap. The trade route to the cellar appears to be equally unpleasant and at odds with the suggested alternative use for the adjoining land.
Some careful zooming revealed a pub that suffered from an instability in its base offer with more font changes than a supermarket shelf. My plan for any venue would stabilise the base offer and return to community use so that side of things is covered. The trading area is split into what, despite the sales details, could be reasonably classed as 30 and 45 cover areas, one served by the bar and the other used for dining. The premises includes a post office but no value, either community or fiscal is associated with it. If the post office stays it needs to move for practical and logistical reasons but I’m not sure post offices are as essential nowadays. I am sure that community banking services and internet assistance could provide the same services without the complications of working for the GPO.
With only three pubs in the area and a large number of chimney pots the trade should be good, although the figures would seem to disagree. Based in a village that has lost the majority of its services I am feeling a ‘pub is the hub’ opportunity to trade larger purchases and maximise the benefit of economy of scale. A “higher than average welfare dependency” seems to be a natural result of “coastal” so is not a cause for concern and I am sure that with the higher value homes in the area there is support for a community asset.
As you can see there has been a lot of thinking. Andrews office is awash with scribbled plans and rough figures which replicate what is going around in my head. This venue was on the market a couple of years ago ( pre pause) but got taken off when I enquired as to financials. I think, as is common in this trade, that a good weekend teased the vendors into staying a bit longer. Are they serious this time? Who knows. In the licensed trade there are a lot of people who want the reassurance of purchase offers as validation of what they are doing. I think that this justifies a re-engagement with my estate agent and a discussion as to intention and expectation, who knows maybe a viewing …….
