AN Addingham pub could re-open as early as May 17 after it was acquired in a deal to purchase six pubs previously operated by the Seafood Pub Company.

The Fleece in Addingham is one of the venues bought by Home Counties-based operator, The Oakman Group, in a move that will save around 150 jobs.

Oakman has acquired six venues - including The Fleece Inn in Addingham - from the administrators and Seafood Pub will now become their third brand.

Joycelyn Neve, the founder and former MD of Seafood Pub Company, will join The Oakman Group as the MD of this new division.

Sitting alongside Oakman’s existing brands – Oakman Inns and Beech House – this purchase strengthens their aspirations to have 40 pubs in their portfolio by the end of 2021.

Joycelyn Neve said: “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.”

Dermot King, CEO of The Oakman Group, said: “I am delighted that we have agreed terms to acquire these sites which 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.”

Noel Moffitt, Senior Director, Christie & Co., handled the sale on behalf of the Administrators, BDO, and national law firm, Freeths, advised on the deal.

The six sites that Oakman has acquired are:

Alma Inn, Colne, Lancs

Derby Arms, Longridge, Lancs

Farmers Arms, Great Eccleston, Lancs

Fenwick Arms, Claughton, Lancs

Fleece Inn, Addingham, West Yorks

Forest Inn, Fence, Lancs

Oakman Inns was founded by entrepreneur and its Executive Chairman, Peter Borg-Neal, in 2007 when he opened The Akeman in Tring which quickly won an award for outstanding design and conservation work with which the pub group has become synonymous. Dermot King succeeded Borg-Neal as CEO in August 2020.

The multiple award-winning pub group established the new concept of the ‘modern public house’ and has successfully transformed both historic and modern buildings into contemporary spaces that have a strong sense of identity and integration within the local communities they serve.

Following the acquisition, the Group will own and operate a total of 33 pubs across the UK made up of three distinctive brands - 22 Oakman Inns, five Beech Houses and six Seafood Pubs. They have seven additional sites in this year’s pipeline.

The Group employs over 1,000 people and has frequently been recognised for its successful training and career development programmes. Most recently, they received, for the second time in its five-year history, the Princess Royal Training Award.