Popular Portsmouth pub is put up for sale

A PUB that underwent a £130,000 refurbishment just two years ago has been put up for sale.
The Fountain in North EndThe Fountain in North End
The Fountain in North End

The leasehold on The Fountain, in London Road, North End, is being advertised for £39,950 by leisure property adviser Davis Coffer Lyons.

The Fountain, a detached Victorian character pub that was originally owned by the Brickwoods Brewery, was transformed when it was taken over by Gary Deeks, owner of DW Leisure, in August 2014.

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His company, which also owns The Marmion in Marmion Road, Southsea, turned the traditional pub into a sports bar, introducing large television screens and sports memorabilia.

Keith Goodwin, associate director at Davis Coffer Lyons, is handling the sale. He said: ‘The owner has other businesses which he wants to focus on, so he has decided to sell The Fountain.

‘The price of £39,950 is a pretty good deal, and I am sure it will get snapped up pretty quickly.

‘The next person who takes it up will pick up a good deal as it is very nicely presented and it is a good business.

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‘The previous owners spent thousands of pounds on it and it is in very good condition.

‘A lot of pubs out there seem to be cheap but when you look around them a lot of work needs to be done to bring them up to a good standard.

‘That is not the case with The Fountain. A lot of hard work has gone into it.’

The sale includes recently refurbished trading areas, a rear patio housing the old fountain, after which the pub is named, a function room and five-bedroom owner’s accommodation.

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The property is held on an Enterprise Inns tied lease for 10 years with eight years remaining. The annual rent is believed to be £22,000.

Former landlord Pat Wears left in 2013 after he got into a dispute with owners Enterprise over who should pay for the work costing £60,000 to the front of the building, which meant scaffolding was up for months, reducing his trade.

Eventually extensive work was done to improve the outside of the pub by Enterprise Inns before DW Leisure took over.

Drinkers said they hoped that it would stay the same under the potential new ownership.

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Alice Clapp, 23, from Buckland, said: ‘The Fountain is good. It has a nice garden and it always has live events.

‘There are some pubs you avoid and some you avoid at different times of the day.

‘But that’s not the case with The Fountain. It is best for live music, they do a good roast, and it even does its own pork scratchings.’

Mr Deeks was not available to comment.

For more details on the pub sale go to daviscofferlyons.co.uk.

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