Punch sells Wigan pub to Daniel Thwaites
The Foresters Arms near Wigan has been sold to brewer and pub operator Daniel Thwaites and local microbrewery Prospect Brewery.
The sale of the pub in the village of Shevington Moor, Standish, was handled by the Manchester office of Colliers International on behalf of Punch Taverns with a guide price of £225,000.
Daniel Thwaites, the Blackburn-based brewer, pub operator and owner of Shire Hotels & Spas, is investing £80,000 in a refurbishment of the pub after joining forces with Prospect Brewery of Wigan.
When the pub re-opens on 1 June it will be called the Silver Tally, the name of Prospect Brewery's best-selling beer and reflecting the mining history of Wigan – a silver tally was the coin given to miners to exchange for a meal when they had completed overtime.
The pub is the first for Prospect Brewery and as its official brewery tap will stock a rotating range of Thwaites' and Prospect cask ales, cask ciders and bottled beers.
Jeff Wraith, senior surveyor, licensed and leisure at Colliers International Manchester, acted for Punch Taverns and said: "As so many pubs in the North West and elsewhere continue to close and undergo a change of use, we are pleased to complete the sale of this property for an on-going licensed use to local operators and to help in the creation of local jobs."
Ugh. Good luck Prospect. There is no guarantee that Daniel Thwaites’ involvement here will ‘save the pub’ in the long run. Thwaites’ reputation for exploiting tenants falls neatly in line with that of other companies who dabble in beer and property in the guise of being ‘family brewers’.
By J Mark Dodds