To be operated under its Shire Hotels brand, The Fleece features 28 en-suite bedrooms, two 40 and 50 cover restaurants plus a bar and courtyard.
The sale was managed by property agent Christie + Co, which had been employed to seek out new sites for the brewer in its bid to create a nationwide chain of hotels that offer “excellent food, traditional ales and good value accommodation”.
Anthony Spencer, managing director of Shire Hotels, said The Fleece’s Cotswolds location would make the venue popular with the area’s tourists.
“The Fleece has everything we look for in a site for one of our Thwaites Inns of Character, including a long tradition of welcoming visitors to the area,” he said. “Cirencester is a great commercial location and, as the Capital of the Cotswolds, its appeal to the leisure market is proven. We will commence a major re-development of The Fleece in the coming weeks and it will join the Thwaites Inns of Character collection in late summer.”
Christie + Co will continue to seek further sites for the Thwaites Inns of Character group.