Marston’s has placed a 13-strong package of freehold pubs on the market, Propel reported on 5 November. It is not the first such disposal: the pub company offered 61 freeholds through Christie and Co in March 2023, and in 2024 it sold 18 freehold pubs to Admiral Taverns.
The headline on Propel reads “Marston’s places 13-strong package of freehold pubs on market”. The detail is behind the trade title’s paywall, so the pubs, the selling agent and the price are not known. When it put 61 pubs on the market in 2023, Marston’s operated over 1,400 pubs across the UK, according to The Caterer.
The 2023 sale of 61 pubs
In March 2023 Marston’s put 61 non-core freehold pubs in England and Wales on the market through Christie and Co, under the name Project Aramis. The mix covered leased, tenanted, retail and managed pubs, offered individually, in small groups or as a whole package, as Pub and Bar reported. Judith Rafique, head of estates at Marston’s, said the move followed a routine review of the estate, and Noel Moffitt of Christie and Co said the pub sector had been very resilient over the last few years.
A wider clear-out across pub groups
The Caterer set the sale against a wider clear-out: Stonegate had reportedly put around 1,000 venues on the market in January 2023, and J D Wetherspoon had looked to sell about 45 pubs at the end of 2022. No prices were given. At the time Marston’s had reported festive sales up 12.9% on the previous year and aimed to reach £1 billion in sales while cutting debt below £1 billion.
Admiral Taverns takes 18 freeholds
In September 2024 Christie and Co announced that Admiral Taverns had bought 18 freehold Marston’s pubs. The Christie and Co announcement described them as wet-led pubs spanning the UK, in counties including Dorset, Derbyshire and Yorkshire, and said Admiral’s estate rose to over 1,420 pubs. Christie and Co brokered the deal, and Andy Kershaw, director of property at Marston’s, and Chris Jowsey, chief executive of Admiral Taverns, were named in the release.
Who is buying
Admiral, owned by Proprium Capital Partners, had bought 37 pubs from Fuller’s in May 2024, which took its South East England count to over 300, and had invested over £38 million in acquisitions in the previous 12 months. The price was not disclosed.
What the headline does not say
The sources read do not say which pubs are in the 13-strong package, who is selling them, or whether any is tenanted, leased or managed. Marston’s works with licensees through tenancies and leases rather than franchise agreements.
Context for licensees and operators
A freehold sale changes the owner of a pub’s building, and in a tenanted or leased pub that changes the landlord. Marston’s pubs run on tenancies and leases rather than franchise agreements, which is why the sector treats them differently from a franchise network; our guide to what a franchise is sets out the distinction. For sector trading, hospitality like-for-like sales in September are the latest figures.
