A Cotswolds pub has been sold just seven weeks after being put on the market with go-to hotels specialists Colliers International.
Hotels director Peter Brunt said the Bell Inn in Stow-on-the-Wold had been sold to well-known local operators Sue Hawkins and her niece Rachel – and would have gone through even quicker had it not been for an abortive sale to slow things up!
He said: “We have been saying all year that the hotel and pub sector in the Cotswolds is defying national trends and that there are plenty of potential landlords out there keen to get a foothold in this wonderful part of the country.
“Buyers Sue & Rachel Hawkins are very well-known in the region having operated the Church Street Townhouse in Stratford-on-Avon, the George at Shipston-on-Stour and the Fox and Goose at Armscote.
“Sue will transform the place and I am confident it will look fabulous.”
The Bell Inn is the seventh pub to be targeted by specialist pub transformers Sue and her niece Rachel.
Sue said: “We have always welcomed many visitors from the Cotswolds to our pubs in Stratford-on-Avon and Shipston-on-Stour and we decided to look a little further afield this time.”
Having swooped on their latest property Sue and Rachel have called in Cotswold Oak to begin work on a top quality refurbishment.
“Our builders are starting work the first week of October and should be finished early January.”
Sue, who has been in the pub and hotel trade for more than twenty years, said attention to detail and great customer service was key to their success.
“Our ethos is to put the customer first at all times. Locals first with tourists the icing on the cake.”
The girls’ previous hotel was the Church Street Townhouse in Stratford-on-Avon, which was converted from a dental practice in an old office block. It won the industry accolade “Pub Design of the Year”. Since then, the partnership has bought and sold four under-achieving pubs and hotels and won many more awards.
Sue said: “The Bell will be a very relaxed refurbishment which we would expect to complete early in 2013.”
Peter Brunt said the Bell had been in corporate hands for a long time but a review of the portfolio suggested it would give better returns as an independent freehold.
“I am confident Sue and Rachel will bring the same superb eye for detail and custom as they have at their other pubs and am looking forward to seeing what they make of The Bell.”
For further information please contact Peter Brunt on 0117 917 2000.
Ends
Issued by Empica Ltd on behalf of Colliers International. For further information contact Martin Powell or Simon Harding on 01275 394 400.
Notes to Editors:
Colliers International is one of the UK’s top real estate advisory organisations, employing over 700 people in 12 full service offices across the UK and Ireland.
Colliers International provides a broad range of real estate consultancy services including, but not limited to, general practice surveying, valuation & advisory services, lease consultancy and destination consulting.
Globally, Colliers International is the world’s third largest commercial real estate firm, employing over 12,000 professionals in 522 offices in 62 countries.