OXFORDSHIRE-BASED Brakspear has sold off a tenth of its pubs over the past two years as part of a rationalisation of its portfolio to improve profits.

The pub operator and brewer, which has its headquarters in Henley, has sold 14 pubs.

One of them was in Oxfordshire, the Bottom Glass in Binfield Heath. Other pubs offloaded were in Sussex, Surrey and Buckinghamshire.

Finance director David Nathan said: “As a business, we felt that the typical small wet-led pub was an unsubstantial business on its own for the long term. And we had a number of those pubs.”

Small wet-led pubs offer only beer, wine and spirits, and are not big enough to provide either food or accommodation.

Mr Nathan said these small pubs were “not operating at a profit for the tenants or for us”.

He added: “Nowadays people want to go to a pub for food, the ambience, good wine, as well as a beer.”

Conversely, Brakspear also acquired eight pubs over the last three years, including the Station House in Henley. The company’s overall pub portfolio now stands at 131 properties.

The pub rationalisation programme helped lift turnover for Brakspear’s parent company, JT Davies & Sons, by 12 per cent year-on-year to £19.9m in the 12 months to December 31, 2014.

Brakspear generates more than 90 per cent of the parent company’s total turnover.

Another key driver was the managed house division, which increased turnover by 71 per cent to £3.6m.

While Brakspear’s core business is owning pubs that the company leases to tenants, or pub operators, it started the managed house division two years ago under which Brakspear both owns and manages five pubs. The rapidly growing business unit now accounts for 18 per cent of total turnover.

Brakspear’s profit before tax and exceptional items rose 20 per cent year-on-year to £4.2m in 2014.

Mr Nathan said Brakspear’s business strategy since he joined the company in 2010 had been to become “recognised as a leading tenanted and leased pub company”.

He said key initiatives to achieve that goal included: recruiting “good quality” tenants; improving the lease agreements with tenants; upgrading marketing across the group; and introducing internal interior design services.

The company has reinvested the proceeds of recent pub sales back into the business, including the refurbishment of individual pubs – costing between £5,000 and £50,000 for each site.

He said: “We were comfortable to downsize our estate but improve the quality of the pubs.”

JT Davies & Sons, a private company owned by the Davies family, acquired Brakspear in 2007.