Old Joint Stock owner set for hotel expansion

THE acquisition of a Warwickshire hotel is set to spearhead the expansion of a leading pubco into the accommodation sector.

Fuller, Smith and Turner, which owns Birmingham’s popular Old Joint Stock pub, said it was looking for growth and the hotel sector offered it the right opportunities.

The 41-bed White Swan Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon is right next to the town’s famous – and recently refurbished – Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

The 500-year-old Grade II-listed building is undergoing extensive refurbishment and is set to be a flagship venue when it is completed in time for next year’s tourist season.

In its full-year results statement today Fuller’s said: “Accommodation sales represented 7% of total sales in our Managed Pubs and Hotels (2010: 6%). Like for like sales grew 11.6% last year largely driven by an increase in occupancy of 9%.

“Accommodation is of growing importance within our business. At the year-end we had 486 bedrooms across 22 properties with many of our pub bedrooms trading under our successful ’boutique’ room style which enables us to command a premium rate.”
 
In addition to the White Swan, the firm has also invested in venues in Winchester and the Drayton Court in Ealing, where it is hoping to capitalise on the venue’s easy access to Heathrow and central London.

Overall, the company said it was happy with a strong set of results for the financial year just ended, which had been driven by an excellent performance in its Managed Pubs and Hotels division.

“Our revenues grew by 6% to £241.9m (2010: £227.7m) and adjusted profit before tax (excluding exceptional items) increased by 10% to £29.m (2010: £26.6m). Our adjusted earnings per share rose by 9% to 37.36p (2010: 34.19p).

“Over the last five years our adjusted earnings per share have grown 71% while our full year dividend has grown 49%,” said chairman Michael Turner.