Yummy Pubs sells the Wiremill as two founding partners leave

Yummy Pubs has sold its original site, the Wiremill near Lingfield in Surrey, to independent family brewer Hall & Woodhouse.

Co-founders Anthony Pender, Tim Foster, and Jason Rowlands, who started Yummy Pubs in 2007 and won the Catey Pub and Bar award in 2021, are to pursue separate projects following a 15-year partnership.

Yummy Pubs will rebrand to Yummy Collection with Pender at the helm as founder, overseeing London pubs Somers Town Coffee House in Euston and the Victoria at Mile End.

There are plans for a rapid expansion of the Yummy Collection, with a new site already under offer and investment funds in place for future sites. The company also plans to invest in its two existing pubs.

Matt Ward, the first team member to rise from the bar to the boardroom at Yummy Pubs, has taken a stake in the Victoria and will continue as a key member of the management team.

Pender said: "I have hugely enjoyed working with Tim and Jason over the last 15 years but am now looking forward to the future of the Yummy Collection, working with inspirational up-and-coming talent, and expanding our portfolio of venues with new operational business partners.

"Despite the economic challenges, the Wiremill has continued to grow and develop into the hugely successful and iconic site it is today, and that is all down to the dedication, hard work and brilliance of the entire team. I know that its future will be just as bright as part of the Hall & Woodhouse family.

"Hospitality has always been in my blood, and I am so excited for the future of the Yummy Collection, working with bright new talent and building new concepts as we grow and expand an already exceptional business."

The Wiremill occupies a 15th century mill and has been owned by Yummy Pubs since 2007. It will now join Hall & Woodhouse's 170-strong portfolio of pubs in the south of England.