The Sawley Arms, Sawley, Ripon, HG4 3EQ

An extensively refurbished, immaculately presented Coaching Inn benefitting from multiple income streams in food, beverage & accommodation sales, with large outdoor trading areas & further room for expansion.

The Sawley Arms is situated in the quaint North Yorkshire village of Sawley, near Ripon, with excellent road links to the A1(M) North-South & the A59 TransPennine East-West carriageways.

The Market Town of Ripon is around six miles to the North East, Harrogate is around 9 miles to the South East, with York 30 miles to the East. Leeds Bradford Airport is only a 25-minute car journey away. Excellent InterCity train links exist via the local stations at Thirsk, Harrogate, York & Leeds.

The Sawley Arms is set within the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, as well as being within easy reach of the Yorkshire Dales & North York Moors National Parks. With the charming market towns of Pateley Bridge, Grassington, Masham & Hawes also all close by.

The ever-popular National Trust & UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Water Garden are very close by, with ancient abbey ruins & an awe-inspiring water garden, as is Brimham Rocks, another National Trust site, with dramatic moorland rock formations.

The ground floor comprises a series of lounges & dining areas offering comfortable indoor seating for a total of circa 60 customers.

There is a small snug area with relaxed seating, as well as a private dining/function room offering seating for up to 14.

The heated conservatory to the front of the property provides further seating & a dog friendly area, the year round.
This gives five general rooms & two Private Dining Rooms.

All trade fixtures & fittings are free from any hire purchase or lease agreements & will be included within the sale. An inventory will be provided by the seller.

The property benefits from a fully equipped commercial grade catering kitchen, a small prep-kitchen, beer cellar, storeroom & customer & staff toilets.

The equipment & attention to detail back of house is akin to a much bigger, corporate style operation. Quite often back of house is neglected & can be tired but The Sawley Arms is most certainly an exception to this.

There is an extensive back of house administration operation with log cabin style offices to the rear of the premises, five desks, fast broadband & 3CX phone system linked to the main bar & restaurant. This cabin was constructed to residential building regulations & could be converted into additional hotel accommodation.

A site surveillance office gives the opportunity for 24/7 security, complete with a modern 16 camera CCTV system.
The discrete but well positioned maintenance facility & garden workshop gives storage for paints & materials, plus an undercover workspace.

An on-site laundry room with two twin tub washing machines, two commercial tumble driers & linen storage, enables laundry to be done in house, giving a significant cost saving than using an external provider. There is an additional commercial washing machine & dryer stack for kitchen use.

There are seven, high quality ensuite letting bedrooms, which are situated in two semi-detached cottages within the grounds of the property. All are bespoke contemporary boutique styled & finished to an extremely high standard. There is also a six-berth well-appointed bunkhouse, popular with cyclists & ramblers, which includes a wet room & secure cycle store.

Occupancy levels peak in the summer months, with a huge opportunity to increase by looking at third party hosting sites as well as dynamic pricing system.

In addition, the high-end private apartment maybe used as hotel accommodation.

The apartment & cottages still have full residential status, resulting in extra property value as could quickly be turned back into private dwellings.

The site benefits from an extensive trade garden with flagged patios, manicured borders & grassed seating areas for an extra 100 customers outdoors. With heavy-duty well-maintained picnic bench furniture & parasols throughout.

There is a gravel car park for circa 25 cars & a small, enclosed beer garden to the rear of the pub, which faces out to the village green.

In addition, there is a small, heated summerhouse with TV & seating for 14 customers.

The Sawley Arms is a summer-based pub, with large pergolas offering four opening roofs, complete with a TV for watching sporting events.

Guests enjoy the well-maintained relaxing front & rear outdoor spaces, whilst a separate entrance to the side of the car park gives discrete access for trade deliveries & waste collections.

A log shed & coal bunker as a mineshaft feature give on site storage to supply the internal log burners year-round, with three additional outside storage cabins on site.

Arranged over the ground & first floor is a spacious & immaculately presented apartment, with a rear private entrance into the kitchen with stairs leading to the landing & bathroom, linking to the lounge, main bedroom & side annex. There is an additional double bedroom, plus another set of stairs offering access back down into the public areas. Additional sound proofing has been installed in the flooring to give a quiet relaxing space, away from the busy bar areas below.

The Sawley Arms offers a fantastic opportunity to purchase a property that truly is in turn-key condition, with further room for expansion & development. Immaculately presented & hugely well invested in all areas, there has been no expense spared in the development & maintenance of the site.

The business is performing well under management & therefore could easily fit into an existing portfolio & offer further potential for growth. Alternatively, an owner-operator who lived on site would be able to further maximise profits.
The business benefits from other high-end hospitality & leisure attractions, including but not necessarily limited to Grantley Hall “Yorkshire’s Favourite Five Star Hotel”. The UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Water Gardens. The Spa Town of Harrogate, the Cathedral City of Ripon & York Minster with Roman & Viking Heritage – there is definitely an opportunity to strengthen those links & therefore increase trade to The Sawley Arms.

Whilst our client's preference is to sell the property and going concern business on a FREEHOLD basis, they would also consider offering the pub ‘TO LET’, on a new, free of tie lease – terms to be negotiated. However, we are advised they are only interested in discussing the lease with a very experienced and capable operator, with a proven track record in the hospitality industry.

We are advised that turnover for the year ended 31st December 2024 was c. £600,000.

During peak season the pub serves 500 covers per week. Through the winter weekly trade is more limited, but weekend sales are consistent to average 250-300 covers a week in low season. The average spend is approximately £33 per head.

There is ample opportunity to vastly develop the food & beverage offer.

Extensive trading data is available to view on site. Real time Tevalis EPOS till system & manual end of day reports detailing covers & sales, plus events of the day. An Independent stock auditor visits on a bi-monthly basis, his reports for the restaurant and bar are also available.

The restaurant gross profit is circa 70% & the bar gross profit is circa 65%.

Social media platforms such as Tripadvisor & Google Reviews have independent commentary, giving fair & reasonable feedback relating to the restaurant and hotel experiences.

There is significant potential to develop the business & property by further extending the current facilities.

Planning permission has already been granted for a deli style coffee shop & indoor seating area to replace the current conservatory, extending out into the front car park.

Furthermore, plans have been drawn up to introduce three deluxe family glamping pods in the rear beer garden, further increasing the accommodation offer. In addition, designs are already in place to introduce a pre-fabricated 'pod' on to the flat roof above the kitchen to create additional chef accommodation.

Finally, there is a concept for winter garden style all-weather function room out front. This has the potential to hold 50 guests seated & 100 standing, with triple glazed with bi-folding doors on three sides, making it a very versatile space for all year-round enjoyment, including parties & wedding events.

The total site area is approximately 0.7 acres.

The Rateable Value as per the April 2023 ratings list is £17,600. Interested parties should seek confirmation of actual rates payable from the Local Authority.

Premises License