HOSPITALITY
Gloucestershire: A hospitality hotspot
It is talked about as being one of the most difficult industries to survive in, but in Gloucestershire the hospitality industry is thriving like never before. Barely a week goes by without tale of a hotel being sold for a price in the millions, a pub being renovated and reopened or a developer taking on an exciting project. Gloucestershire has its advantages when it comes to attracting investment in hospitality. The Cotswolds, Cheltenham and, increasingly, Gloucester are hot spots on the tourist trail and all of those people who head here need feeding, watering and somewhere to sleep. And from the redevelopment of a town centre terrace to include a micropub to a multi-million transformation of a Regency hotel, Gloucestershire is a hospitality hotspot. In the last two months alone, Punchline Daily has reported on plans being approved for Cheltenham’s first micropub and the redevelopment of a historic Gloucester city centre hotel. The two projects are at different ends of the difficulty – and therefore the cost – scale, but both need the ideas and investment of their developers. From theAngry Parrot Pub Ltd to Dowdeswell Estates, private investment in hospitality is booming. And if they’re not being redeveloped or renovated – like the £2.5million upgrade to the Chase Hotel in Brockworth carried out by Marriott – they’re being
bought by the million too. October saw £40million splashed out on a portfolio of seven prime Gloucestershire hospitality havens by industry heavyweights Fuller, Smith and Turner. Cotswolds Inns and Hotels Ltd was on the other end of the deal that saw The Bear at Rodborough, The Manor House in Moreton-in-Marsh and others sold to owners who already have 400 premises. The Bay Tree and The Lamb Inn in Burford over the Oxfordshire border, the Hare and Hounds and The Close near Tetbury and The Swan in Bibury were all part of the bumper deal. "The inns and hotels being acquired are all iconic, character properties in sought-after locations in the Cotswolds,” said Fuller, Smith and Turner CEO Simon Emeny. A fortnight later, news was released of an even bigger deal that saw part of a national chain of pubs sold for £45 million – with some Gloucestershire ale houses likely part of the deal. Brewers Marstons were the sellers in a deal that saw 137 of its ‘smaller, wet-led franchised and tenanted’ pubs sold to Admiral Taverns. Marstons was listed as owning a dozen outlets in the county, many of which like the Clock Tower in Cheltenham and High Orchard in Gloucester are substantial food-oriented pubs. But The Avenue in Tuffley, The Swan and The Railway close to Cheltenham town centre and Black Horse in Cirencester are outstanding
114 | December 2019 | www. punchline-gloucester .com
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