Spirit Pub Company plc (Spirit) was a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

and restaurant company in the United Kingdom based in

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The ...

and originally formed by

Punch Taverns Punch Pubs & Co is a pub and bar operator in the United Kingdom, with around 1,300 leased pubs. It is headquartered in the traditional brewing centre of Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange as a constit ...

. It was listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...

until it was acquired by

Greene King Greene King is a large pub retailer and brewer. It is based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The company owns pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by CK Assets in October 2019. H ...

in June 2015.

History

Spirit Group was originally formed by

in February 1999 to operate its managed pub estate including pubs acquired from

Allied Domecq Allied Domecq PLC was an international company, headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent but has been acquired by Pernod Ricard. Th ...

. Spirit Group was demerged by Punch in February 2002. Spirit Group then acquired

Scottish & Newcastle Scottish & Newcastle plc was a brewing company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, which expanded from its home base to become an international business with beer volumes growing almost tenfold. The company was listed on the London Stock Exc ...

’s retail business, before itself being re acquired by Punch in May 2006. Spirit was demerged from Punch Taverns for a second time in August 2011. The shareholders accepted a takeover offer from

in January 2015. The takeover was completed in June 2015.

Operations

Spirit had seven hundred and seventy seven branded managed pubs throughout the United Kingdom in August 2013, and a further 452 leased pubs. Spirit employed an average of 16,800 people in 2013. Its properties were valued at £1,375m by August 2013. It had net debt of £891m including £147m of interest rate swap obligations. It proposed a restructuring of its bond obligations.

Taylor Walker

There were 120 pubs of Taylor Walker mostly in West and Central London, which competed with Nicholsons. The name is taken from the Taylor Walker

Brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...

, which was founded in 1730 in Stepney. Following the takeover by Greene King the brand ''Taylor Walker'' was retired, with pubs being brought under the brand ''Greene King''.

Other brands

Spirit’s other brands were Chef & Brewer, Fayre & Square, Flaming Grill, John Barras, and Original Pub Company. In addition, Spirit Pub Company operated ''Wacky Warehouse'', the largest soft play and activity centre brand in the United Kingdom and Good Night Inns, a group of hotels next to their pub restaurants.

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em Pub chains