Regional Spotlight: Bath

With its Roman baths, new multimillion pound spa development and elegant Georgian buildings, the World Heritage Site of Bath in Somerset is very much in demand from both tourists and operators alike.

"It's a tourist Mecca, and there's always a great influx of visitors both national and international, offering a very broad business mix," says Jonathan Hill, associate director of the Bristol office of licensed property agent Christie & Co.

It's also a growing commercial centre, helped by its proximity to Bristol. Hill says that, historically, businessmen have been put off by the tourists and the traffic, but this is now changing.

In recent months, however, there has been a very limited supply of licensed properties on the market as owners make hay while the sun shines in the peak trading months of June to September.

There's a wide range of accommodation businesses in the town, ranging from five-star to budget, but, again, such businesses rarely come on the market. That said, Christie & Co has just sold the Harrington's hotel and is about to complete the sale of another.

Matthew Smith, a negotiator in the Bristol office, says the high demand and residential prices mean that even tied leasehold pubs go for about £50,000 upwards, and freeholds go for more than £350,000 to £400,000. But outside Bath you can find leases for upwards of £15,000, he says.