Buying The Freehold

Buying the freehold means purchasing the property outright, and in many ways the process is similar to buying a house. However in the case of buying a pub, not only are you buying the bricks and mortar of the property but you are buying the business as well.

Being Prepared

Professional Support

Before you start looking to buy your freehold property, you should ensure that you have a good accountant, solicitor and property surveyor in place. This saves time and focuses your efforts on looking for and purchasing your pub rather than juggling these tasks at the same time as trying to find good professional support. Having your professionals in place also means that you can respond more quickly once you find a potential purchase (see Chapter 9, Professional Services, for more details).

Financing The Purchase

You must be clear about what financial resources you have available and whether you will need to raise additional money to fund your purchase (see Chapter 4, Funding the Business). There is no point in making an empty offer for a pub that you are unable to back up with sufficient funds. To avoid this, you should obtain an early agreement in principle from your lenders that the funds you require will be available to purchase a pub, subject to certain criteria and conditions being met. By doing this you will know what funds you are likely to have available.

Finding Your Freehold

Who Will Be Selling?

In the majority of cases, the seller of the freehold pub will be a private individual who has decided to leave their business. Sellers normally appoint agents to act on their behalf to find buyers, in the same way that estate agents are employed to find house buyers. Some agents specialise in the licensed trade and most pubs are sold through a small number of well-known agents. An internet search, or a trawl through the licensed trade newspapers or Dalton’s Weekly will identify who the main pub agents are.

Registering With Agents

Once you have identified the main agents, it is useful to register with all of them. Many offer a national service and have pubs available throughout the UK. The agents will take details of the area and the type of pub you are interested in, together with the budget you are working to. Registering ensures that you are sent details of any pubs that match your requirements. It can also help if you telephone the agents from time to time, to keep up to date with developments and get advance warning of any pubs that may be being put up for sale in the near future. Your aim should be to help the agent get to know you as a person and not just as a name and address on their database. Building relationships with agents is an excellent way of finding the freehold property you are looking for.

Specific Enquiries

If you see a specific pub that you are interested in, advertised through an agent you have not yet contacted, contact them immediately to register your interest and obtain more details about the pub. Good pubs tend to be sold quickly so time is often of the essence!

Private Sales

Some individuals prefer to advertise their pubs for sale themselves rather than go through an agent and thus save the agent’s fees. Occasionally you will see these pubs advertised in local newspapers or more frequently in Dalton’s Weekly. In such cases, there will be no middleman and you will negotiate directly with the seller. This may be advantageous, and personal contact can make the whole process easier and quicker. However, some sellers may be too busy or disorganised for this to work satisfactorily and this could result in problems and delays.