Spirit Pub Company plc (Spirit) was a pub and

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

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. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...

and originally formed by Punch Taverns. It was listed on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

until it was acquired by

Greene King Greene King is a British pub and brewing company founded in 1799, currently based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. The company also owns brands including Hungry Horse and Farmhouse Inns, as well as other pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed o ...

in June 2015.

History

Spirit Group was originally formed by Punch Taverns in February 1999 to operate its managed pub estate including pubs acquired from Allied Domecq. 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, 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