Three Barracuda pubs open in one night

l Cheers: staff celebrate at the opening of the Pilgrim, Caterham

October 1, 2006: The Barracuda Group marked the end of a month-long programme of new pub acquisitions with the simultaneous opening of three new Smith & Jones pubs on one night.

With a combined investment figure of £2.3 million, the Maypole in Ossett, West Yorks, the Vineyard in Sittingbourne, Kent, and the Pilgrim in Caterham, Surrey, all had extremely successful opening nights.

Barracuda chief executive Mark McQuater said: “The three new Smith & Jones pubs mark the end of 12 new businesses that we've opened in September alone. This has been a challenge for the team, but each pub was successfully opened on time, which demonstrates the strength of our highly developed acquisitions programme and quality of the Barracuda team.”

The three new pubs take Barracuda’s total estate to over 190, of which 95 are Smith & Jones branded pubs.