Amber Taverns boosts war chest with funding deal

AMBER Taverns, the Lancashire business reviving unloved and under-invested urban pubs, has extended its funding line by nearly £3m to support its growth plans.

The Blackpool company which is backed by private equity firm LGV Capital, currently has 80 pubs mostly in the North West, Midlands and North Wales and expects sales to rise from £25m to £32m this year.

The £2.7m extension of its arrangement with long-term banking partner Lloyds, takes its facility to £24m. The funding was agreed under the National Loan Guarantee Scheme.
 
Amber will to use the funding to add 12 new pubs over the next two years. It specialises in operating ‘wet-led’ pubs located at the heart of communities which are refurbished to a high standard with full access to major televised sporting events.

Chairman Clive Preston said: “We are on course to own 100 pubs within two years and then we will see just how far we can go after that.

“At Amber Taverns, we’ve proved conclusively that the ‘wet led pub’ can thrive with a quality offering in the right location.

“We are succeeding by giving our customers what they want – value-for-money and the best sporting events in some terrific venues.

“As a result, each of our pubs now has an average profit of over £100,000 per annum. A major part of our success has been the on-going support and guidance we’ve received from Lloyds Bank’s Liverpool office which has an outstanding knowledge of this sector and the requirements of our business.”

Ashley Suter, relationship director at Lloyds added: “We’ve worked with Amber Taverns’ team right from the start and the company continues to flourish in one of the most competitive sectors by ensuring that communities have pubs which they clearly love and keep returning to.

“We’ve witnessed first-hand how successful they are in both creating jobs and driving economic regeneration and we’re keen to play our role in supporting that.”

Founded in 2005 Amber Taverns underwent a successful management buyout in 2010 which was supported by LGV Capital.