There's no gloom at the inn, says pub group boss

Jul 8 2008 by Karen Dent, The Journal

THE boss of a growing North East pub group says reports the industry is in trouble are “absolute nonsense”.

John Weir, the managing director of Wear Inns, is looking to grow his pub portfolio to 15 and expects to increase his number of outlets from the current six to at least 10 by Christmas.

Accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) has predicted that 2,000 pubs will shut this year as they are squeezed by the combined pressure of the credit crunch and the smoking ban. Its report said up to 6,000 will close in the next five years unless they take action.

But Mr Weir, who has just opened his latest venture, The Ox Inn at Stanley, believes the pubs that are struggling are not supplying what their customers want. He said: “If you read the PWC report, it was all doom and gloom but I don’t think it is. You get the offer right and get the people right, and you will always win through.

“The smoking ban has done us no harm because all our pubs have dedicated outside facilities. I was slightly concerned about what would happen but it’s actually been the opposite.

“You read the reports saying the smoking ban has affected pubs. It certainly hasn’t affected my business. It’s actually worked for me. In the North East, trade is not that bad. People in the North East are very resilient.”

Wear Inns only takes on freehold pubs, spending around £450,000 to £650,000 on the freehold and a further £125,000 to £135,000 on refurbishing them. It focuses on the value for money sector of the market.

“I am in the legal process of taking over a pub on Teesside and I’m in talks about three more. We are still acquiring and we are trying to acquire at a fast rate,” said Mr Weir. “We would like to get 12 to 15 and I think we could probably get to 10-11 by Christmas. If the market frees up, we will get the 15. We have good reason to be positive about our future trading. Our strategy of good value, all day, every day appeals to local communities in which we trade and we are seeing the benefits in increased custom.”

Pub entrepreneur John Sands, a former Journal North East Business Executive of the Year who developed the Hartlepool-based Pubmaster chain into one of the biggest in the country and then sold the 3,200 pub estate in 2003 for £1.2bn, was one of the founders of the Wear Inns group in 2006.

Mr Sands said: “Wear Inns aim to give a good quality offering to the drinking man. We’re more of a Queen Vic than a Rovers Return.

“We do food but it’s mainly a snack menu. Our prices are competitive with beer at £1.80 and lager at £2.”

The fightback against big pub companies’ dominance is under way: See tomorrow’s Journal.

The smoking ban has done us no harm because all our pubs have dedicated outside facilities