Seafood PubCo launches ‘southern flagship’ in Hertfordshire
The opening of The Grand Junction comes a year after The Oakman Group acquired Joycelyn Neve’s then six-strong collection of premium pubs in the North West.
Located by the Grand Union Canal, the pub was purchased by The Oakman Group last Spring and has been given a six-month, £1.2m redesign and renovation.
Founder Peter Borg-Neal says the site has been in his cross hairs for some time: “A long time ago, my son Éamonn and I had discussed what we’d do to improve it after years of insensitive piecemeal alterations. Whilst we knew the building and the garden would require a great deal of work, we could see the potential and when I showed it to Joycelyn, she was convinced it would make an excellent Seafood PubCo site.”
The opening of The Grand Junction follows the conversion of The Pointer at Brill in Buckinghamshire into a Seafood PubCo site in October, which marked the brand’s first pub in the south.
Reflecting on her first year as a divisional managing director at The Oakman Group, Neve said: “I have really enjoyed becoming part of the Oakman family and it is great to be surrounded by people who are on my side and know what they are doing. It’s been a busy and very rewarding 12 months.”
“We relaunched the six original Seafood Pub sites back in May 21 after significant renovations and investment in the properties. Trading in those six pubs is 21.5% ahead of pre-Covid performance, and we are delighted with the results."
“The Grand Junction Arms will be the biggest investment in a Seafood PubCo site to date and we are very optimistic about what we can achieve here”
The Oakman Group has two Seafood Company sites in the immediate pipeline – one in Buckinghamshire and another in Lancashire.
