Pubs group expands estate with £150k deal for historic Liverpool site
A Liverpool hospitality business is confounding the gloom around a pub industry constantly reeling from closures, by expanding its portfolio with its latest acquisition.
Ma Pub Group has acquired Newington Temple from previous owner, Old Rope Walks, in a £150,000 deal that will create 15 jobs.
The pub, situated on Newington, just off the thriving Bold Street retail and dining hot-spot, will become the fourth city centre site for Ma Pub Group.
Newington Temple joins Nova Scotia, opened in 2022, Tempest on Tithebarn (2021) and Ma Boyle’s Alehouse & Eatery (2015).
Having traded as a pub for almost 200 years, recent decades have seen various iterations, including Old Rope Walks, Bier and most recently as a dive bar.
Ma Pub Group will return the site to a traditional wet-led classic pub, with an emphasis on draught and cask ales and showing Premier League football.
This follows the growing trend for characterful and historic pubs in Liverpool being revitalised. The site will be closed for three weeks for refurbishment and is due to reopen in mid-March.
Iain Hoskins, director of Ma Pub Group, said: “Having started with my first wet-led pub 13 years ago, Ma Egerton’s Stage Door, and since then opening food-led hospitality businesses, I feel like I’ve come full circle with Newington Temple.
“Pubs are back in a massive way and Liverpool is leading the renaissance for not only all the new openings, but the diversity in the styles of pub-outlets – most of them independently owned and operated.”
Iain Hoskins
He added: “There’s a classic pub aesthetic that appeals to almost everyone that is both timeless and cozy and feels very much what people want now.
“Newington will definitely have that classic Victorian pub feel, but with an edge like you would see in some of current sites like Ma Boyle’s and Nova Scotia and like those its appeal will be completely cross-generational.”
He said: “I’m thrilled to have a site in my favourite street in the world and what we offer with Newington will be the perfect accompaniment to the incredible restaurants that make Bold Street one of the most unique streets in Britain.
“While the trading environment has been tough with huge ongoing challenges, I’m proud that our existing sites continue to grow their sales and reputation amid these choppy times. Newington Temple is a great addition to our portfolio.”
Ma Pub Group said its existing three sites have continued to trade strongly, with a strong 2024 leading into hopes for a busy 2025.
