NEW £5m DEAL FOR AMBER TAVERNS WILL LEAD TO 30 NEW PUBS & 300 NEW JOBS
Amber Taverns the fast growing North West based community pub operator has secured an additional £5m in funding to enable further expansion. This will support the company’s aim to open thirty pubs over the next two to three years in addition to the seventy it has which, in turn, will create some 300 jobs across the North of England.
The expansion programme will also provide demand from shop fitters, electricians and other trades to deliver the extensive refurbishments Amber carries out on each pub it acquires.
The funding comes in the form of a £4m revolving credit facility (RCF) from Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Merseyside plus £1m in loan notes from LGV Capital (LGV), the company’s majority shareholders.
The news comes on the back of winning the prestigious Morning Advertiser 250 Award for the pub company with the “Most Impressive Profit Growth” from amongst its industry peers. This endorses the success of Amber’s strategy of acquiring unloved wet led pubs and breathing new life into them through significant investment and its innovative Operator Agreement.
Amber Taverns was founded in 2005 and purchased in October 2010 by LGV, who backed the existing management team led by Chairman Clive Preston, to continue its successful strategy of taking struggling community pubs and revitalising them to create sustainable businesses.
Despite operating in an unfashionable sector, Amber has enjoyed the strong support of both Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets and LGV as it has consistently demonstrated that its modus operandi of providing a quality environment, an incentivised and focused landlord plus value for money products can revitalise neglected community pubs.
The success of this strategy has gained additional recognition through the company’s inclusion in the Sunday Times Fast track 100 Awards for growth in sales in both 2010 and 2011 and being shortlisted for 2012.
Clive Preston, Chairman of Amber Taverns commented:
“It’s been an exciting five years during which we have demonstrated time after time that good wet led pubs are a sound investment and provide a valuable local amenity. We have a highly professional management team who between them have decades of experience in the licensed trade and have the ability to source the best located properties, fit them out to a very high standard and put in true value for money pricing. We are grateful for the unceasing support from the Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets and the help and guidance of our majority shareholder LGV.”
Tim Rigg, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Area Director, Merseyside, North Wales and West Lancashire adds:
“We have been working with the Amber Taverns team for a number of years. Their ongoing success and growth is impressive, not least in the current economic climate. Their business success will undoubtedly have a ripple effect on the supply chain within the areas they operate in which is good news for the North of England. Amber’s continued growth strategy is possible on the strength of the funding support. The provision of this latest funding facility demonstrates the bank’s commitment to supporting strong businesses in the North of England with appropriate finance.”
Bill Priestley, a Managing Director at LGV said:
“We were delighted to make a further investment in Amber to support the management team in its expansion plans. Since we first invested, this time last year, the business has gone from strength to strength and has made a number of successful acquisitions, whilst generating very healthy like-for-like sales growth in its mature estate.”
