Freehold riverside pub near Glastonbury brought to market

The Sheppey Inn is a freehold inn and restaurant, with a popular riverside beer garden and terrace (seating 150), linked trade areas with vaulted dining (seating 180), and three boutique-style letting bedrooms. This sale offers the potential for new owners to create additional letting accommodation.

The business sits in a quirky 17^th Century former cider house, which occupies a substantial two storey building. Popular with visiting Londoners, nearby towns people and locals alike, the pub has a reputation for craft beer, local ciders and live jazz and folk music. The business offers modern British food plus an indoor wood fired BBQ, the sales of which make up approximately 60 per cent of the business’s trade.  

The pub stands in an elevated position in the beautiful wilds of the Somerset levels, four miles from the towns of Glastonbury and Wells. It is also nearby to several nature reserves and RSPB sites at West Hay, Shapwick and Ham Wall, which attract thousands of wildlife enthusiasts each year, and are particularly popular in the winter months when many visit to watch the spectacular starlings roost.

The Inn has been owned by Mr Mark Hey since 2010, and has since undergone major works and refurbishments, including a full re-roofing, the addition of underfloor heating and a vaulted roof in the barn, rewiring, extending the bar servery and bringing the toilets indoors. In 2018, Mr Hey created the pub’s letting rooms, which took the business to a new level, significantly increasing profits and building a regular customer base from outside of the local area. He has also developed a significant social media presence for the pub, which currently has almost ten thousand Facebook followers and a large number of active Twitter and Instagram followers.

Mr Hey has decided to sell in order to permanently relocate to Portugal where he and his wife have a house. He comments, “It is with great sadness that we will say goodbye to The Sheppey. We have seen year on year growth since we opened in 2010, and the pub has turned into a bit of a must go tourist destination for visitors to Somerset but it also has a big regular following from the local communities especially from Bristol and Bath retaining its integrity. I’m always happily surprised at the demand for quality products like natural wines, craft beers and, of course, artisan cider by our customers.”
 
Nicholas Calfe, Director of Pubs at Christie & Co, who is handling the sale, comments, “Tucked away in the beautiful Somerset Levels, The Sheppey Inn is a hidden gem and people travel far and wide to experience its quirkiness. The current owners permanently relocating to Portugal gives a new buyer the exciting opportunity to take ownership of this highly profitable and popular riverside pub, to add to their portfolio or use this acquisition as a lifestyle change.”

The Sheppey Inn is on the market for an asking price of £950,000.
 

For further information on this press release, contact:
Phoebe Burrows, Corporate Communications Executive
P: 020 7448 8849 or E: phoebe.burrows@christie.com

Contact the agent:
Nicholas Calfe, Director – Pubs (South West)
P: 0117 946 8504 or E: nicholas.calfe@christie.com
 
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