A Brighton pub has been put up for sale for £5 million – and the freehold of the 200-year-old property also comes complete with its own brewery and eight flats for rent.
The freehold includes the North Laine Brewhouse – described by its owner, the Laine Pub Company, as the King of Pubs – in Gloucester Place, on the corner of Gloucester Street.
The Laine Pub Company has a lease, with eight years to run, and is expected to be unaffected by the sale of the freehold.
Laine founder and chief executive Gavin George said: “The North Laine Brewhouse is a flagship site in Laine’s eclectic estate of Brighton pubs and is the birthplace of Laine’s exciting range of craft beers.
“While demand for our core range of beer means we now operate a 20,000-hectolitre brewery away from the North Laine Brewhouse, all our NPD (new product development), seasonals and specials are brewed there, and will continue to be.
“Our operation of the North Laine Brewhouse remains unaffected by the sale of the freehold of the building and we look forward to trading here in the heart of the North Laine for many years to come.”
Property agent Fleurets said that the freehold sale included “a substantial and historic five-storey character semi-attached property built in 1819 with a slate mansard roof, painted and exposed brick elevations, bay windows and balconies”.
Fleurets said: “The North Laine Brewhouse occupies the ground floor, basement, trade yard and a manager’s flat at first-floor level.
“There is external customer trade space to the front of the property for approximately 100 covers fronting Gloucester Place.
“A separate entrance with up steps to a Doric doorway, to the left side of the public house, provides access to the eight flats let on ‘assured shorthold tenancies’.
“The Laine Pub Company trades this site as the North Laine Brewhouse. It has a strong wet-led trade alongside brewing its own beer which supplies other Laine Pubs within Brighton.
“The business holds brewery tours and multiple events in addition to a food offering.”
The flagship pub trades on the ground floor, with an open plan seating area for about 80 people, a raised stage with seating surrounding a long bar servery for about 65 more.
Fleurets said: “There is a ping-pong playing area and further seating internally fronting Gloucester Place for 55 covers.”
The basement houses the customer toilets, beer cellars, cold rooms, several storage areas for the beer brewed on site, two offices and a staff area.
The building includes a two-bedroom manager’s flat on the first floor and eight flats which have been rented out on the first, second, third and fourth floors.
The rent payable by the pub is £135,000 a year and from the flats £118,000. The building has a rateable value of £104,000 which would leave the owner liable to pay business rates of just over £50,000 a year.
The pub was previously the Gloucester night club and was renamed Barfly before it closed for good. The current owner, Laine, submitted plans to turn it into a pub almost 12 years ago in the summer of 2012.
The Laine Pub Company is an indirect subsidiary of Punch Pubs and Company – and both businesses are wholly owned by the US-based Fortress Investment Group.
Laine operates 56 pubs in total, with a mixture of freeholds and leaseholds, mainly in Brighton and Hove, where it has 33 pubs, and in London and Birmingham.
Laine reported a £2.8 million annual loss after tax in its most recent accounts – down from a £2.9 million profit the year before.
The company’s annual report and accounts blamed inflation for pushing up operating costs while denting the amount spent by customers. A wet summer also dampened takings.
Turnover was £52.7 million in the 12 month to Sunday 13 August last year, up from £51.1 million.
Laine made an operating profit of £1.2 million, down from £3.9 million, and after interest, a pre-tax loss of £319,000, compared with a pre-tax profit of £2.4 million.
Great, I was wondering what to do with the 5 million quid burning a hole in my pocket.
Me too, how strange, clearly not the only one with a big hole, but could go halves
They’re offloading it because it’s a money pit.
With the £5 mil, maybe they could stretch to a pool table. This pub is missing something like that, in the under used bit that used to be the dancefloor of the old Gloucester club
Prior to Gloucester Night club. It used to be the Birds Nest night club back in the day. And there is no such thing as the North Laines, North Laines is just a pseudo name which was given to that part of the Lanes. The Laines are the Lanes. You ask any genuine long serving Brightonian, they will tell you the same.
And Brighton isn’t Brighton, it’s Brighthelmstone…apart from West Brighton, now Hove…ask any….places are what the residents call them.
Guess you need to do some research then, because The Laines does exist and existed before The Lanes. So if long serving Brightonians say the same as you then they know as little as you and are also wrong.
And Hove now has a West Beach Park.
Strange how things come and go.