Oakman ends sale process, sells two freeholds to McMullen’s, set to pay down debt and reinvest in estate: Oakman Group has sold two freehold pubs to brewer and retailer McMullen’s with the proceeds set to allow the repayment of debt maturing in January 2025 together with providing the business additional capital to invest in its existing estate. The sale of the two pubs – The Rose in Wokingham, Berkshire, and The Polecat in Prestwood, Buckinghamshire – follows a review of strategic options available to Oakman including a potential sale of the business and fresh investment. The company had been in discussions with a number of parties regarding the possibility of an offer being made for its entire issued share capital, but said that “all such discussions have now been terminated”. Oakman chief executive Peter Borg-Neal said: “While it will be a sad moment when we say goodbye to these sites and to the wonderful teams that run them, we are delighted that they are going to a very good home with McMullen’s. Everything I have learned about McMullen’s during this process encourages me to believe that they have similar values to Oakman and provide a seamless transfer for our people.” Oakman was advised on the transaction by Sapient Corporate Finance. The now 32-strong company also announced its draft financial results for FY2023-24. The company said it made strong progress ending the year with site Ebitda up 11.7% to £10.1m and Business Ebitda up £1.6m to £4.5m. Borg-Neal said: “We are pleased with our performance during the last financial year given the challenging trading conditions faced by our sector. The first quarter of the current financial year has seen further significant progress and there is a sense of momentum in the business. Conversely, the recent budget announcements represent a severe body blow, as it does to the rest of our industry, and we will have no choice but to implement price increases to mitigate the swingeing increases in pre-profit tax.” The Polecat and The Rose will join McMullen’s managed estate in the new year and, until then, will continue to be traded by Oakman to minimise disruption to team and guests over Christmas. Jenny Strathern, property director at McMullen’s, said: “I am so pleased to be able to welcome The Rose and The Polecat, with their teams into the Mac’s family. These acquisitions follow shortly after the opening of the Duchess & Dressmaker in Brentwood, a former Prezzo restaurant and the development of the White Hart Whitechapel and introduction of 12 boutique rooms above The Spice of Life pub in Soho. Further acquisitions and investments are planned for 2025 and 2026, appropriately adjusted to take into account costs increases announced in the government’s recent Budget and we continue to seek out quality sites, both trading and non-trading, for new pubs across the Southeast of England and London.” Heydon Mizon, joint managing director at McMullen’s, said: “We are delighted that Peter and Oakman Inns entrust us to become the next custodians of these large, premium pubs and we look forward to continuing their growth. As we approach McMullens 200th year, the recent Budget announcements cause us concern. The £30bn of business tax increases is likely to trickle down to working people as inflation but with the addition of VAT, this could stifle economic growth in a sector reliant on disposable income. Macs have survived worse, but to see so many challenges in so short a time has been painful.” McMullen’s currently operates 40 tenanted sites and 85 managed pubs.

Wendy’s UK signs up franchisee for the south west: Wendy’s, the third-largest quick service restaurant brand in the US, has signed a new development agreement with franchisee Khidmat that will see six restaurants opened across the south west of England. Wendy’s said that Khidmat's managing director Farhat Abbas and operations director Isa Naeem decided to grow with the brand because of its “global recognition and world-class support system”. Abbas said: “We believe that everyone in the UK should have access to Wendy's food, and we're excited to grow with a brand that has such loyal fans across the globe.” EJ Wunsch, president, international for Wendy’s, added: “Wendy's is poised for tremendous growth and expansion across the UK and Europe. We are thrilled to welcome Khidmat to the Wendy's family and we look forward to partnering with it to further expand the brand's footprint and unlock new opportunities to bring our fresh famous food to fans across the country.” It comes as Wendy’s confirmed that sites in Newcastle, Rutland (on the A1 northbound), Colchester and in London’s Fulham Road, had been secured for future openings. Michael Clarke, managing director of Wendy’s UK and Europe, said: “These plans reflect our ambition to expand to 400 locations nationwide, enabling more people to enjoy our food.” Clarke previously told the Propel Multi-Club Conference that the brand will look to take on more franchisees here next year, and where it can’t, it will open more company owned stores. Since relaunching here three years ago, Wendy’s has grown to circa 40 locations and will close out the year on 49. The majority of these are split between five franchisees, with a company footprint of 13 locations. Wendy’s features in the Propel UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, the next edition of which will be sent to Premium Club members on Wednesday, 11 December. The database is updated every two months, and the latest version features 280 businesses. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription.

BrewDog’s Indian franchisee planning ‘aggressive expansion’ in coming year despite Mumbai bar closures: The Indian franchisee of Scottish brewer and retailer BrewDog is planning “aggressive expansion” in the coming year despite two of its flagship Mumbai bars shutting. The BrewDog bar in the Bandra West suburb as well as its outlet in the office district of Lower Parel have closed. BrewDog now has only two bars open in India, having first set up there in 2021. Pratekk Chturvedi, a director of Aloha International Brewpub, which operates the BrewDog India franchise, told the FT that the landlords had wanted the bars to close and the franchise operator had filed legal cases to reclaim “business losses that we are facing”. BrewDog declined to comment. Even before the closures, BrewDog had struggled with obtaining consistent beer supplies in India’s financial capital. Chturvedi, who is also chief operating officer of BrewDog India, said BrewDog had also faced issues with the department that regulates and taxes alcohol in Mumbai’s home state of Maharashtra. “Mumbai was an extremely important market for us, it is ground zero, it is where we began,” Chturvedi said. “I am fairly certain that in the coming time, maybe in the next, say, three to four quarters, we will find a new location and start up in [Mumbai] again.” Last year, BrewDog announced plans to open 100 bars in India over the next decade and Chturvedi said the Mumbai closures were only a blip. He added the local franchise was operationally profitable and would focus on the country’s north where it had two bars in the cities of Gurugram and Amritsar. “We are looking at aggressive expansion in the coming year – we are looking at one opening every quarter,” Chturvedi said, adding that a new bar would open in Chandigarh in the coming weeks. Last month, BrewDog reported pre-tax losses had more than doubled in 2023 to £59m but insisted it had seen a “significant improvement in profitability”, with the business returning to Ebitda positive trading by the first half of 2024.