Hydes Brewery Limited is delighted to announce the acquisition of Chester-based pub company Woodward and Falconer.
Woodward and Falconer was founded in 2001 and has built up a group of 6 high quality food-led pubs located in Chester, the Wirral and North Wales.
Two of the sites have been extracted from the company and will be retained by Jeremy Woodward so four excellent pubs will join the Hydes estate. These four sites are an ideal geographical fit for Hydes and grow the company’s food-led destination business to 11 sites with a projected turnover of more than £15m, over half of which will be food sales.
The acquisition will increase opportunities for staff across all these sites, promote learning and improvement across the business and result in enhanced buying terms. It will also provide a platform for further acquisitions of food-led businesses.
The four sites that will join the Hydes stable are:
- The Goshawk, Mouldsworth, Nr Chester
- The Stamford Bridge, Tarvin, Nr Chester
- The Boathouse, Parkgate, Neston, Wirral
- The Golden Lion, Rosset, Nr Wrexham
We are delighted that Duncan Falconer, who has managed the Woodward and Falconer business on a day to day basis since its inception, will be joining Hydes. Duncan’s skills will not only contribute to the continuing strong performance of the Woodward and Falconer pubs but will benefit the Hydes business as a whole.
We would like to thank our bankers, RBS and our professional advisors, DWF, BDO and KPMG for their considerable support on the transaction.
Hydes Managing Director Chris Hopkins commented “This exciting acquisition represents a positive strategic move for the business. We very much look forward to working with the excellent team’s at all four pubs as we continue to develop our food-led business”.
John Radcliffe, Relationship Director at RBS said “We are pleased to extend our financial support to assist Hydes in making this strategic acquisition to both strengthen and broaden the quality of its estate”.
NOTE: The two extracted sites will be operated by Jeremy Woodward as new companies but will have no association with Woodward and Falconer. The two sites are:
- The Egerton Arms, Broxton, Cheshire
- The Celtic Arms, Northop, North Wales
-ENDS-
For more information, please contact:
- Chris Hopkins: Managing Director, 07775 523912 / 0161 226 1317
About Hydes
Hydes is an award-winning independent family brewer and Pub Company. Founded in 1863, it has remained an independent brewery in the North West of England and North Wales ever since. The brewery, now based in Media City UK, Salford after relocation in 2012, is entirely dedicated to the production of cask ales. Four beers are available on a permanent basis plus an extensive range of constantly changing seasonal and occasional cask ales. Hydes beers are distributed throughout its estate of 60 managed and tenanted houses, free trade customers, wholesalers and pub groups.
Hydes pubs The Joshua Bradley at Gee Cross and The John Millington in Cheadle Hulme were winners in the coveted ‘Best Managed House’ category at the Great British Pub Awards in 2011 and 2012 respectively.
