Heavitree chairman sees no let up for pub industry
The chairman of Devon pub company Heavitree Brewery has predicted there will be no upturn for the struggling industry this year.
Speaking after the publication of the group's annual results, which revealed that operating profit plummeted by 67% last year, Nicholas Tucker admitted it had been an extremely challenging year for both the company and pub sector at large.
Tucker added that there was little sign of an improvement in trading conditions, but stressed that "the strength of any pub business is in its pubs and operators - and I have every confidence that we have quality in both".
Last autumn, Heavitree announced that, after an extended review of the struggling business, that it would be closing its managed house operation.
Fourteen of the 20 pubs subsequently earmarked for tenancy or lease have now been converted, although the restructure led to redundancies within the pubs themselves and at head office.
Turnover in the year ended 31 October 2008 slipped 1.4% to £13.1m (2007: £13.3m) and operating profit dived 67% to £554,000 (2007: £1.7m) after the cost of converting properties turned out to be much higher than expected.
Heavitree sold four pubs for £928,000 in the year, and since the year end has sold four more, which meant pre-tax profit was £1.02m compared with £2.68m a year ago.
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By Chris Druce
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