Liberation Group, the privately owned, premium pub operator and brewing business, has announced plans to rebrand to Butcombe Group, to align with its strategic priorities.
The existing operating brands — Butcombe Pubs & Inns, Butcombe Brewing Co, Butcombe Boutique Inns, Liberation Pubs & Bars, and Liberation Brewing Co — will remain the same.
Over the last seven years, Butcombe Group has expanded significantly through organic growth and strategic acquisitions from Brains, Wadworth, and Cirrus Inns.
Led by its food and drink offering, the expansion and development of the pub estate has been focused on the South of England. This area now represents the group’s largest concentration of pubs.
The accommodation offer has continued to develop, growing to more than 400 rooms. There are plans to increase this to over 700 within the existing estate. This year has also seen the launch of Butcombe Boutique Inns.
During the same period, the group’s Butcombe Brewing and Drinks business has also continued to grow, alongside its packaging, distribution, and free trade operations.
Butcombe Original has recently overtaken Doom Bar as the South West’s best-selling cask ale and top 10 UK-wide, while Tall Tales Pale Ale is one of the fastest growing keg ales in the South of England.
Butcombe chief executive, Jonathan Lawson
“The Butcombe brand has quickly established itself as a leader in the premium pubs and drinks business,” said chief executive Jonathan Lawson. “Following a period of successful expansion, it is now the largest part of our business and the area where the majority of our growth is likely to come from.
“Adopting Butcombe as our corporate brand is the logical next step, and will support our exciting plans for future development. The Channel Islands will continue to remain an important part of our business and growth plans, operating unchanged under the Liberation brands.”
Current and Christmas trading
“Christmas bookings have been incredibly strong for some time, with a double-digit growth against last year’s performance,” said Lawson.
“Interestingly, the time of day showing the strongest bookings growth is the morning, which points to growing demand for brunches and lower-alcohol occasions. We have also seen a real move to celebrate Christmas out of the home, with bookings on Christmas day up significantly.”
He added: “Despite recent storms and fragile consumer confidence, we remain encouraged by trading in the second half overall, which is running slightly ahead of the H1 like-for-like sales growth of 6.4%.
“We have been particularly heartened by the performance in our London pubs, where the investment in our sites and offer has been really well received by our customers, and we have driven double digit growth in London for the last 12 weeks.
“We have strong plans for the new financial year which we approach with confidence, despite the deeply unhelpful budget from the UK government, which we see as being inflationary and contrary to their much-vaunted support for business.”
