Madonna buys Mayfair pub

Pop star Madonna and film director husband Guy Ritchie have bought the Scottish & Newcastle owned Punch Bowl in Mayfair, London, for an estimated £2.5m.

The Ritchies bought the 18th century pub with nightclub entrepreneur Piers Adam, the owner of the Mahiki bar on Dover Street, Mayfair, and it is expected to be the first in a series of acquisitions.

Property agents Davis Coffer Lyons advised Ritchie and Adam on the acquisition and they said the pair were looking to create a new take on the traditional public house aimed at the fashion conscious.

David Elliott, managing director of Greene King Pub Partners, told Caterersearch that Madonna, a self-confessed fan of Timothy Taylor's bitter, should go on a cellar management course to make sure she didn't hit the borderline running a pub.

"She might enjoy a tipple of real ale but you need the training to make sure you serve a decent pint of the British stuff and if she gets that wrong she'll certainly know what it feels like for a girl [running a pub]."

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