Amber Taverns extends funding line to £27.5m

AMBER Taverns, the Lancashire pub company buying and refurbishing traditional urban boozers, has extended its funding line by £5m as it looks to complete more deals.

Blackpool-based Amber Taverns now has a £27.5m facility with Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking in Liverpool.

The private equity-backed company is aims to increase its existing portfolio of 86 pubs to around 120 across the North, Midlands and North Wales by 2016.

In the year to the end of February Amber achieved record results with profits rising 22% to £3.9m on sales of £33.2m, up 30%. EBITDA was up 33.3% to £6.8m.

Chairman  Clive Preston said: “The continuing success of our business is proof that the traditional ‘wet-led’ pub is alive and well, and quality venues in a good location and a competitive offer will thrive.

“Our customers want to enjoy great pubs in their local community that offer value for money and which also screen the best sporting events and we are delivering exactly that.

“Lloyd’s Bank’s Liverpool team has shown exceptional knowledge of the sector and our needs as a business.”

Ashley Suter, relationship director, Merseyside, West Lancs & North Wales at Lloyds said: “We have supported Amber Taverns since the company was established in 2005, and it has been rewarding to see how far the company has come in that time.

“The company operates in an extremely competitive sector, but by staying true to its ethos of delivering quality traditional pubs that are loved by local communities has allowed it to flourish.”

Amber Taverns was named the UK’s Best Community Pub Operator at the 2013 Publican Awards and has been included for four consecutive years in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100. It is backed by LGV Capital.