RedCat acquires Coaching Inn Group, Little Britain Pub Co & Gusto Pronto Group


New and expanding group, founded and chaired by former Greene King boss Rooney Anand, RedCat Pub Company is acquiring Coaching Inn Group, with 18 sites across England and Wales.

It has also snapped up the five-strong Little Britain Pub Company in Leicestershire, and the five-site Gusto Pronto Group in Suffolk, taking the new group's total portfolio to around 75 sites.

The Coaching Inn Group, founded in 1996 by chief executive Kevin Charity, has reinvigorated many pubs in UK market towns. Having secured investment from the BGF in 2015, the group acquired more than 10 sites over the past six years. The estate includes The White Hart Hotel in Boston, Lincolnshire (pictured), and The Royal Oak Hotel, Welshpool, Powys.

Chief financial officer Edward Walsh will continue to lead and run the business within RedCat, which will help and support the group to continue its expansion throughout the UK.

Anand, executive chairman, said, “I’m delighted that the Coaching Inn Group is becoming part of RedCat. It’s a business I’ve long admired and Kevin Charity is a class act. I look forward to building our pub hotels business and building our business together.”

Walsh added, “I’m very excited at the prospect of our business becoming part of RedCat. It’s a great opportunity to be part of an entrepreneurial venture and to work with such talented and seasoned pub executives.

'I’m confident that with RedCat’s support, we can continue our momentum and grow our footprint of historic pub hotels.”

Formed in 2009 by two families, The Little Britain Pub Company operates The Langton Arms in Church Langton, The Windmill in Wymeswold, The Curzon Arms in Woodhouse Eaves, The Blue Bell in Rothley, and The Crown Inn in Old Dalby.

Founded in 2008 by husband-and-wife team, Pronto has five pubs in the Bury St Edmunds area, including The One Bull, The Cadogan, The Crown, The Beerhouse, The Fox, plus the Brewshed craft brewery.

RedCat is backed by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management. It launched in February and in recent months has acquired 42 pubs across England and Wales from Stonegate Pub Company and some single sites, including the New Dungeon Ghyll pub hotel in the Lake District.