Hall & Woodhouse invests £15million in pubs

We have invested more than £15million into pubs across our estate in 2025. We undertook major investments this year to future-proof and evolve our pub estate, including the purchase of a new pub in Poole.

We have invested heavily in maintaining our estate, increasingly catering to changes in consumer trends towards casual dining and coffee. We also introduced our first experiential games-led pub this year. The £3.8million acquisition and major transformation of The Quay in Poole has enhanced the guest offer and created a new appeal for groups and younger diners.

Our multi-million investment has also helped to create and protect local jobs in hospitality, provide new opportunities for entrepreneurs to run pubs with strong underlying trade, and preserve historic buildings.

Mark James, Property Director, said: “The pub has always played an important role at the heart of its community. Our purpose to make people’s day means that we take great care in everything we do, including how we maintain and develop our estate.

“Our pubs are increasingly being used as all-day venues for a variety of occasions. We welcome groups of friends for coffee and breakfast, families for dinner, birthdays and celebrations, and everything in between. We’re incredibly proud of the role we play in our communities and are committed to ensuring our pubs remain welcoming, well looked-after spaces for everyone who walks through the door.

“Despite the doom and gloom in the wider environment at the moment, we have invested significant sums in our pub estate. In these difficult times, it is more important than ever that we continue to invest to ensure our pubs remain relevant and fit for the future.  We take a long-term view on choosing how to invest and are ambitious to maintain the character of our pubs while ensuring sure they continue to meet the needs of the communities they serve, both now and for generations to come.”

Alongside our managed estate, we continue to invest heavily in our Business Partnership pubs (tenanted), providing opportunities for and backing independent operators. £450,000 supported a major renovation at The Ox in Ashley Cross which saw the installation of a brand-new kitchen, new fixtures and fittings throughout the pub, and full modernisation of the inn’s 14 guest bedrooms. The Ox building has been owned by us for more than 100 years, and this year we partnered with Provision Hospitality Management to formally bring the site into the H&W Business Partnership estate.

Joe Martin, General Manager at The Ox, said: “We’re really proud of what we have created at The Ox as Provision Hospitality with Hall & Woodhouse’s generous support. The feedback we’ve received from locals has been incredible and we’re pleased to be an inviting place for friends and family to come together to unwind, celebrate, and create memories.”

Beyond Dorset, several of our pubs in neighbouring counties have undergone extensive refurbishment this year. We opened a £5million new-build pub in Crowthorne, Berkshire, offering various dining and social spaces. In Devon, The Barn in Woolacombe underwent a major £2million refurbishment and The Dolphin in Beer received a £1.5million transformation. In H&W’s Business Partner estate, the St. Mary’s Gate in Arundel now has five new letting rooms and has received a full external and internal refurbishment.