Award-winning Urban Village Pub Company Bolsters Oxfordshire Estate with Off Market Acquisitions
November 8, 2024
Urban Village Pubs – the independent pub company founded by Ian Grundy and Gavin Drew in 2017 – has added two Oxford pubs to its 8-strong portfolio in the South East of England.
The company – which picked up a Publican Award in 2023 for Best Community Pub Operator – has taken a new free of tie lease from Red Oak Taverns on The Victoria in Jericho, in addition to taking an assignment of a long free-of-tie lease on Cowley Road’s Big Society, from Oxford’s Oriel College.
Drew commented that the business had been tracking these pubs for “a while now, and they seem a perfect fit to enhance our current estate”. Grundy said: “We loved these pubs from the first time we visited them. They both have lots of character, are in excellent trading areas, and have great potential for growth. We are looking forward to building on their existing successes and welcoming the teams into the Urban Village family and culture. These pubs bring a strong trading history, but with big opportunities for further growth.”
UVP’s vision is to take the best characteristics of village pubs and blend them with the more contemporary environment of an urban pub; each pub has the relaxed, informal and friendly attributes of the Great British pub combined with a modern, contemporary and vibrant environment that has a strong sense of identity within the local community.
The off-market deals were facilitated by DCL’s Paul Tallentyre.
