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Tue 26th Feb 2013 - Breaking News - Urban & Country Leisure mulls options after approaches |
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Urban & Country Leisure mulls options after multiple approaches: Urban and Country Leisure (UCL), the Lazy Cow operator headed by Ross Sanders, is mulling its options after receiving three approaches. The company is understood to have been approached by a managed operator, a brewer and a private fund – two of the approaches have centred on taking a stake in the company while the third is linked to setting up a new joint venture. Sanders is meeting with his corporate advisors next week to decide on the company’s next strategic step. UCL operates four Lazy Cow sites and three smaller pubs and the company is currently looking at two further Lazy Cow sites in Chester and Alderley Edge. The company opened two Lazy Cow sites - Stratford and Solihull - in the four weeks before Christmas. Sanders said: “They both traded at £45,000 per week through December.” UCL is looking to exit its two smaller country pubs. Negotiations are under way with a local buyer for The Plough in Cobham, Surrey, and it has received an offer for the Auctioneer in Banbury – both are Star Pubs and Bars sites. The company has indicated it plans to retain the Telegraph near Putney, which underwent a £100,000 refurbishment a few weeks ago. “It’s a free-of-tie privately owned lease that has produced phenomenal sales and profits for years,” said Sanders. The first Lazy Cow was opened in Warwick in October 2010 at the former Globe Hotel - the site has been averaging around £50,000-a-week in takings. The company opened a second Lazy Cow site in Salisbury in September 2011.
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