Mon 27th Mar 2017 - Joseph Holt agrees £25m refinancing package to grow pub estate Joseph Holt agrees £25m refinancing package to grow pub estate: North west brewer and retailer Joseph Holt has agreed a £25m refinancing package with the Royal Bank of Scotland to support the growth of its pub estate, brewery and to develop new products. The company, with its sixth generation of the family now working in the business, was established in 1849 and has been brewing award-winning beers and lagers at its brewery in Empire Street, Manchester, since 1860. It owns 128 pubs throughout the north west and spent £5m on refurbishments across its portfolio in 2016. The financing package will be used to acquire and open more community pubs and food-led pubs in the pub restaurant division – five pubs have already been acquired since the start of 2017. Finance director Phil Rowan said: “As the industry changes, we need to ensure we are in the best place to meet the needs of our diverse customer base. Our expansion plans will help us deliver our commitment to being an industry leader that is innovative and we are focused on creating strong community pubs with a high quality food offering. We have been working with the Royal Bank of Scotland for a very long time and value the support they have given us over the years. They have looked at our requirements over the short and medium term and structured our funding in a simple way, enabling us to plan for the future.” In its most recent accounts, Joseph Holt reported a 19% increase in pre-tax profit to £3m in the 2015 calendar year. The company saw operating profit from continuing operations rise 23% to £3m during the same period. Turnover from continuing operations increased by 14% to £54.3m, while the company’s average headcount was 766 in 2015, down from 772 in the prior year.