The deal, which will give Oakman a foothold in the North of England, will restore some 150 jobs that were lost when The Seafood Pub Company fell into administration in June last year.
The multi-award-winning gastropub group, which was founded by Neve in 2010 and operated 10 sites across Lancashire and Yorkshire, was forced to enter insolvency proceedings after it failed to secure funding to help support it through the Coronavirus crisis.
Oakman says the new acquisitions will strengthen its aspirations to have 40 pubs in its portfolio by the end of 2021. It currently operates an estate of 33 sites, the bulk of which are concentrated in the home counties.
The six Seafood Pub Company sites acquired by Oakman include Alma Inn in Colne; Derby Arms in Longridge; Farmers Arms in Great Eccleston; Fenwick Arms in Claughton; Fleece Inn in Addingham; and Forest Inn in Fence.
It is expected that all six pubs will reopen when lockdown restrictions on indoor hospitality begin to ease on 17 May.
Neve will be join the Oakman Group as managing director of a new Seafood Pub division, and initially be based in the North.
She will report directly to the group chief executive Dermot King.
“I have been a huge admirer of the Oakman Group, its ethos and its ambition," says Neve.
"They have acquired the cream of the Seafood Pub Company sites and I’m confident that, with the Oakman team’s support, we will prove to be enormously successful."
