Chefs buy Charles Wells lease in Olney

A group of young chefs headed by James Lomax has bought the lease on the Bull Inn on the Market Place in Olney, a country town in Buckinghamshire's Ouse Valley.

It is one of 15 managed pubs that Bedfordshire-based brewer Charles Wells offered to the lease market through Christie + Co.

The inn is an historic, 400-year-old former coaching inn that served as an important stopping point for the Beehive Coach that ran between Wellingborough and London.

Nowadays, it has become a focal point in the town for its freshly-prepared pub food, real ales and catering for weddings and parties.

However, there are plans for a joint venture between the new lessees and Charles Wells to redevelop the inn's hotel business by converting the adjoining house and stables into letting bedrooms.

At present, it offers a main bar and dining room to seat 70 customers, a 100-capacity function room with bar, five-bedroom owners' accommodation, and a one-bedroom studio apartment.

Outdoors facilities include a courtyard patio garden and a beer garden.

The Milton Keynes office of Christie + Co sold the lease off a guide price of £75,000.

By Angela Frewin