Property type: Pub & Bar
Pub Bridging Loans Derby
We arrange bridging finance against pubs and bars across Derby, from the Cathedral Quarter heritage stock around the Brewery Tap and the Old Bell Hotel through Friar Gate and Sadler Gate to the suburban locals in Allestree, Mickleover, Spondon, Chaddesden and the wider Derbyshire pub estate. Loan sizes run £200,000 to £4 million, terms 6 to 18 months, completions in 10 to 21 days. Pub-and-bar bridging prices at 0.9 to 1.4% per month given the trading-asset profile.
- Decisions in hours
- Completion in days
- £100k to £25m
- Derbyshire specialists
Derby · Derbyshire
Bridge to your next move.
The asset class
What pub & bar property looks like in Derbyshire.
Pub and bar stock in Derby splits into three groups. There are the destination heritage pubs in the Cathedral Quarter and along Sadler Gate, Iron Gate and Friar Gate, including the Brewery Tap, the Old Bell Hotel and the listed coaching-inn stock that draws on the city's heritage tourism and the Derwent Valley World Heritage profile. There are the wet-led suburban locals across Allenton, Normanton, Sinfin, Mackworth and Chaddesden, which have seen the steepest closures across the last decade and are most likely to come up as change-of-use plays. And there are the food-led pubs across the wider Derbyshire countryside in the Derwent Valley and the Peak District approach, which trade on a different demand profile. Each reads differently to a bridging lender. Trading-asset value, vacant possession value and alternative-use value can sit a long way apart.
Use cases
Bridging use cases for pub & bar assets.
Pub-and-bar bridging cases in Derby cluster around four patterns. The first is free-of-tie acquisition where a buyer is purchasing a pub from a pub-co or from a retiring tenant, with the bridge funding the purchase pending refinance to term commercial debt with a pub-specialist lender. The second is change-of-use to residential, particularly on the wet-led suburban stock that no longer trades, where bridging funds the purchase plus the conversion works. The third is refurbishment-and-reposition cases where a tired pub is bought, brought up to current food-led standard, and refinanced once trading is rebased. The fourth is capital-raise against an unencumbered pub held by an established operator, often to fund the next acquisition or to release working capital. Across all four, the underwriting reads through to trading evidence, the operator's track record and the credibility of the exit at stabilised performance.
Derby context
The Derby Pub Estate, from Brewery Tap to Suburban Local
Derby has a denser pub estate per head than most equivalent East Midlands cities, an accident of its brewing history. The city was for over a century a major brewing centre, and the historic pub stock around the Cathedral Quarter still reflects that heritage. The Brewery Tap on Derwent Street, the Old Bell Hotel on Sadler Gate and the listed coaching-inn stock along Friar Gate and Iron Gate all trade on Derby's CAMRA-recognised real-ale circuit, which feeds a steady year-round food-and-beer base. Sadler Gate and Iron Gate carry a clutch of independent micro-pubs and craft-beer venues that have grown out of the post-2010 craft sector. Suburban locals in Allenton, Normanton, Sinfin, Mackworth and parts of Chaddesden have seen the steepest closures, with the most common exit being a change-of-use conversion to residential or small mixed-use. Derbyshire-wide, the pub picture splits between the food-led country and market-town stock in Ashbourne, Bakewell, Matlock and Belper, which trades firm, and the urban wet-led stock across Chesterfield, Long Eaton, Ilkeston and Heanor, which carries the same closure pressure as suburban Derby. Pub-specialist lenders read all of this and price accordingly.
Valuation and lenders
Valuation and lender considerations.
Pub-and-bar valuations come back on a trading-business basis for going-concern pubs, on a vacant-possession basis where trading is interrupted, and on an alternative-use basis where the conversion play drives the deal. Bridging lenders lend on the lower of the relevant figures. LTV caps sit at 55 to 65% on trading pubs with strong evidence, 50 to 60% on vacant or distressed stock, and 60 to 65% on as-is value where the case is a clear conversion play. Together and Octane Capital both take Derby pub-and-bar bridging, with Shawbrook, Cambridge & Counties and the pub-specialist team at OakNorth stronger at the larger end. Operator covenant, trading accounts and EPC position all drive the case.
What we arrange
What we typically arrange.
A typical Derby pub-and-bar bridge sits at £300,000 to £1.2 million, 55 to 65% LTV, 9 to 15 months term, 0.9 to 1.3% per month, arrangement fee 1.5 to 2%. Conversion cases include a monitored works tranche. Exit is typically refinance to term commercial debt with a pub-specialist lender, sale to an operator, or sale of converted residential units on a change-of-use exit. Completion in 14 to 21 days is normal where the title and licence position are clean.
FAQs
Pub & Bar bridging questions
Can we bridge a pub purchase in Derby with conversion to residential planned?
+
Yes, and this is one of the most common pub-and-bar cases across the suburban Derby estate. The bridge funds the purchase at 60 to 65% of vacant-possession value plus a works tranche released against monitoring sign-off as the conversion progresses. We check the planning position up front with planning consultants familiar with Derby City Council policy on community-pub designations and Asset of Community Value listings, which can affect the conversion route. The exit is typically refinance to BTL on retained units and open-market sale on disposed units.
How quickly can a free-of-tie pub purchase complete?
+
Free-of-tie acquisitions from a pub-co or a retiring tenant typically complete in 14 to 21 days from offer. The binding constraints are usually the trading accounts, the licence-transfer position and the inventory schedule. Where trading evidence is good and the title is clean we can move faster. We work with licensing solicitors who handle the licence transfer in parallel with the property completion so the new operator can trade from day one.
What rate range applies to pub-and-bar bridging in Derbyshire?
+
Trading pubs with strong evidence, a clear refinance exit and a recognisable operator price at 0.9 to 1.1% per month at 55 to 65% LTV. Vacant or distressed stock prices 1.1 to 1.4% per month at 50 to 60% LTV. Conversion-led plays sit in the middle. Arrangement fees are 1.5 to 2%, with valuation and legal on both sides borrower-paid. Trading-business valuations cost more than vanilla property valuations and need to be factored into the deal cost.
Tell us about the deal
Indicative terms within 24 hours.
A short triage call, then a sized indicative offer against a named lender for your pub & bar property in Derby or across Derbyshire.
Regulated bridging on owner-occupied residential property falls under FCA regulation. Unregulated bridging on commercial and investment property does not. We are not directly regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and we introduce regulated cases to authorised partners who carry out the regulated activity.
Next step
Talk to a Derby pub & bar bridging specialist.
We arrange short-term finance on pub & bar property across Derby, the City of Portsmouth unitary authority and the wider Derbyshire market. Indicative terms in 24 hours.