A Cotswolds pub in the village of Monkton Combe, near Bath, is available to a new licensee, after the present tenants decided to relocate from the UK following the COVID-19 outbreak.
Popular gastropub the Wheelwrights Arms is located in the heart of the village, where independent boarding and day school Monkton Combe School is located. The 18th century inn has been brought to the market by global real estate advisor Colliers International for £225,000 leasehold.
Peter Brunt, director in the Hotels Agency team, explained that in the spring of 2019 the lease of the Wheelwrights Arms was taken on by a couple as a business to be largely run for them under management while their daughter attended nearby Monkton Combe Prep School.
“They significantly invested in the business and it was responding well when lockdown shut the business in March 2020. One half of the couple is originally from Georgia and they returned there in the summer. With their daughter happy in school in Tbilisi they have decided to remain and therefore their interest in the Wheelwrights Arms is being offered for sale,” he said. “In addition to taking on the leasehold of the pub in 2019, they also took on a tenancy of the adjoining cottage, which is accessible from the pub gardens and is something that may be available to the purchaser too.”
Peter Brunt added that the Wheelwrights Arms had been rated as a four-star inn by the AA, and also offered potential for further business expansion.
“The Wheelwrights Arms is a charming and profitable pub in an accessible village position, held on a free of tie private lease,” he said. “The bar and restaurant are just the sort of cosy, inviting spaces that customers seek out and the huge roaring fire that greets guests on arrival sets the tone. Exceptional outside space for close to 200 complements the 45 covers inside and gives the pub a significant boost in warmer weather.
“There are seven very well-appointed letting bedrooms located across the driveway that leads to the private pub car park and a recently created three bedroom letting flat offers further income potential that is yet to be fully realised. When you consider the enviable location too this is a fabulous package.” He added: “The lease on the Wheelwrights Arms is from a private landlord, is free of tie and rent is paid on a turnover basis with a notional open market rent of £60,500 per annum. There are just over nine years unexpired on the original 24-year lease and the landlord has confirmed that they would be willing to grant a lease extension to a suitable tenant.”
