The joint administrators of Milton Portfolio Op Co 3 Ltd have appointed agents to market for sale the 25-strong portfolio of pubs across the the North East and Yorkshire.
The portfolio is the former Wear Inns pubs, which despite continuing to trade robustly has struggled to recover from the hit to business that came with the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.
Avison Young and Watling Real Estate have been appointed to market the licensed premises by joint administrators Ryan Grant and Howard Smith of Interpath Advisory.
Peter Constantine, managing director of the Leisure team at Avison Young, said: “We are delighted to be able to bring this portfolio to the market. This presents a rare opportunity for an operator to take on an established portfolio of strong performing pubs within a fairly tight geographic area. We anticipate strong demand for the pubs, both as one or a couple of lots and on an individual basis.”
The pubs comprise 21 freeholds and four long leaseholds. The full list is:
- Black Bull, East Boldon
- Black Bull, Morpeth
- Britannia, Houghton-Le-Spring
- Cross Keys, Washington
- The Crown, Wickham
- Dirty Habit, Whitley Bay
- Elephant, Ashington
- Greens, Sunderland
- Guide Post Inn, Springwell Village
- Lambton Arms, Chester Le Street
- Lloyds Arms, Grimsby
- Millstone Hotel, Gosforth
- New Inn, Wetherby
- Old Courthouse, Barnsley
- Ox Inn, Oxhill
- Porter Cottage, Sheffield
- Prior, Doxford Park
- Priory, York
- Red Lion, Wakefield
- Ship & Royal, South Shields
- Smiths Arms, Billingham
- Sun Hotel, Shipley
- Victoria, Whitley Bay
- Whistle Stop, Beeston
- White Bear, Barnsley
The former Wear Inns pubs were bought by property investment firm Aprirose, parent of the Milton companies, for £22.4 million five years ago. The pubs were subsquently transferred to Milton Portfolio Property 3 Limited with the properties run by Milton subsidiary Blackrose Management.
Emma Turnbull, associate director at Avison Young, said in a statement: “With the company in administration, this will be a full open sale process. We will be gathering information in the forthcoming weeks with a view to launching a full marketing campaign in the New Year.”
Ryan Grant, joint administrator and managing director at Interpath Advisory, added: “The joint administrators continue to trade all 25 pubs while we seek a buyer for the business and its assets."