Brakspear adds third site to managed estate
Oxfordshire-based pub firm Brakspear has brought a third site into its fledgling managed estate.
The Running Horses in Mickleham, Surrey, will join the Bull on Bell Street in Henley-on-Thames and the Porch House in Stow-on-the-Wold.
Brakspear bought the Running Horses in autumn 2012 and leased the pub back to its owners who have now retired.
The company has since appointed Robin Taylor, who managed the site for 11 years, as general manager.
Brakspear plans a major refurbishment for the site, which includes upgrading the pub's five letting rooms.
The company's chief executive Tom Davies said: "We're delighted to add the Running Horses to our managed estate, and to have retained Robin and his irreplaceable knowledge of the pub and its customers.
"Our three managed sites are very different from each other and we're not trying to create a portfolio of identikit pubs. So when we took on the Running Horses, which is already a very successful site, we didn't rush in to refurbish it to a particular ‘Brakspear' design, but thought hard about what would work best. The changes, though significant in terms of our investment, will be visually subtle and we're confident the pub's customers will love them."
Meanwhile, Brakspear operations manager Mat Aket, who oversees all three managed sites, is developing an operations and training structure, which includes monthly training for all general managers and weekly staff training sessions in each pub.