Oakman Inns completes the acquisition of Seafood Pub Company sites

Ashridge Capital investee, Oakman Inns, is delighted to announce that it has acquired six high quality public houses from the administrators of Seafood Pub Company Holdings Limited (“SPC”). In addition to the restoration of some 150 jobs the deal provides positive news for suppliers, including the UK’s sustainable fishing industry. 

As with so many other hospitality businesses, the impact of Covid forced the Seafood Pub Group into administration.

SPC founder and MD, Joycelyn Neve, has joined the Oakman Group as MD of a new Seafood Pub division, initially based in the North.  She will be reporting directly to the Group CEO, Dermot King.

Dermot King said: “I am delighted that we have acquired these sites which will be the foundation stone for the third brand within our group - with the Seafood Pub joining the Oakman Inn and Beech House brands within our portfolio.  Furthermore, these acquisitions will represent the next stage in our strategic development as we look to extend our boundaries beyond our Home Counties heartland.  We believe that there is significant untapped potential, in the premium pub sector, and I am not placing any upper limits on our ambition.”

Joycelyn Neve commented: “I have been a huge admirer of the Oakman Group, its ethos and its ambition. They have acquired the cream of the Seafood Pub Company sites and I’m confident that, with the Oakman team’s support, we will prove to be enormously successful. My expectation at this stage is that all six pubs will reopen on May 17th and we will immediately start work on putting our new teams together.”