WPP falls into administration

Lloyds Banking Group has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers as administrator to the Waterside Pub Partnership (WPP) after failing to agree further financing.

Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises and British Waterways originally established WPP in 2004 to develop and acquire waterside pubs. Heineken then acquired Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises in 2008 and latterly traded as Scottish & Newcastle Pub Company.

Now Scottish & Newcastle Pub Company will no longer act as managing agents for the 17 pubs affected. British Waterways, a 50 percent partner in WPP, said the move had no impact on its own business or on expenditure on the inland waterways because its original investment in WPP was written off three years ago.

It also said the change in the management control of WPP would have no impact on the terms of individual operating leases and the pubs affected were free to continue operating.
In March 2011 British Waterways bought 10 of the top performing pubs in the partnership, from WPP for £9m which was used to reduce WPP bank borrowings.