Pub group finds its niche and aims to expand

The Knaresborough-based company, which currently has 12 pubs in the region, is planning to open them in Leeds in the autumn.

The venues have become havens for adults who want to enjoy unusual ales without the blare of the jukebox or hordes of children.

Its latest venture will open at the site of a former neighbourhood pub in Meanwood, Leeds, which has been brought back to life five years after it was closed by its former owners.

The new bar, which has the current working name East of Arcadia, will be based at the site of the former Becketts Arms.

Market Town Taverns is leasing the biggest of three new units created with the 4m redevelopment of the former art-deco pub, now known as The Becketts, by Leeds-based property company Rushbond.

In addition, the company is opening another venue in the former Waterhole pub on Great George Street in the city centre, in October.

Market Town Taverns, which already has three taverns in Leeds with Town Street Tavern, Horsforth; Arcadia Ale and Wine Bar, Headingley and Coopers Bar and Brasserie, Guiseley, plans to create about new 20 jobs with the new openings.

The group already has more than 150 staff and a 5m turnover, which has grown year-on-year as the company expands.

Managing director Ian Fozard said: "Our company is enjoying good growth and we have been looking for somewhere to expand to.

"We selected Meanwood as an up-and-coming area of Leeds with a gap in the market due to a shortage of decent bars."

Market Town Taverns was founded in 1999 to develop a small, quality chain of bars which are free from brewery tie and offer a wide range of traditional and specialist beers, a good selection of wine and food.

Many of the company's pubs are housed in historic buildings. The Brigantes Bar and Brasserie, in Micklegate, York, is in a Georgian listed building which was the birthplace of celebrated architect, inventor and landscape gardener, Joseph Aloysius Hansom. He invented the Hansom Cab in 1834.

The terrace building, a former restaurant, was derelict for five years before being refurbished in a 220,000 investment in 2006.

While some areas of the pub industry have struggled in recent years, small niche pub groups have been able to flourish with the right offering.

"We are fortunate because we are free traders and we are able to sell at the price we want," said Mr Fozard. "But we are under no illusion that it is easy. You can have the best site on the block but if you don't have the right people running the business then it will fail.

"At the end of the day, we are a people business and I think quality smaller companies will start to prevail in the future."

Market Town Taverns aims to continue its expansion in selected areas of North and West Yorkshire but there are no plans to take the brand further afield.

Mr Fozard said: "Our target customers are relatively recession-proof and we trade in good areas that have not been badly hit by the recession. We look at opportunities when they arise. We are looking to expand within a very selective area. We have a tight catchment area and we are very happy with it."

Market Town Taverns is believed to be the first British pub chain to implement a smoking ban in 2005 after a survey of Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) members suggested that 80 per cent of them would be happy to drink in a smoke-free environment.

OPENING TIME

The Becketts is a 4m mixed-use scheme in Meanwood, developed by Rushbond after it acquired the former Becketts Arms in 2005.

The new building includes three-ground floor retail units, two of which are occupied by Market Town Taverns and Belvoir Lettings, and 24 apartments, which are all let, on the three upper floors.

Records show that the site was first occupied by an inn called the Dusty Miller in 1834. It appears to have changed its name to The Becketts Arms five years later and then simply became Becketts Arms.

The previous building on the site was demolished in 2007.