Five Bells, Colne Engaine
Colne Engaine, CO6 2HY
Your investment
£11,500
Agreement Type
Long Term Agreement (5 Year Tenancy)
- Superb village location
- Strong food potential
- Fantastic facilities
Beer Garden
Car Park
Cask Ale
Kitchen
Live Music
Open Fire
Sports Teams
Once locally renowned, this pub has all the foundations to reclaim its place as a true village favourite. It should be celebrated for its warm welcome, traditional hospitality, excellent cask ales, a well-considered wine selection, and cracking pub food served at both lunch and dinner. At its heart, this is a quintessential British pub, designed to sit at the centre of village life. This is not a starter pub and would be best suited to an experienced licensee, or a hands-on couple with a strong blend of front-of-house and kitchen expertise. The business benefits from multiple revenue streams and operational elements, requiring a licensee capable of managing a diverse offer while maintaining consistently high standards across food, service, and overall customer experience. Success will depend on effective marketing both within the local community and further afield, keeping the offer fresh, relevant, and appealing through regular menu development, promotions, and events. Strong cost control and confident profit-and-loss management will be essential back-of-house skills, ensuring the business trades efficiently and profitably throughout the year. For the right licensee, this represents an exciting opportunity to run a well-established, food-led community pub with significant potential. With energy, commercial awareness, and a clear vision for local engagement and growth, the business is well positioned to build on its strong reputation and deliver long-term success.
The Five Bells is a traditional village pub located in the picturesque Essex village of Colne Engaine, positioned close to the Suffolk border and within easy reach of nearby towns including Halstead, Sudbury and Colchester. The pub occupies a historic building dating back over 500 years, with records of landlords in the village housed on site since 1579, giving it deep roots in local heritage and identity. Centrally placed on Mill Lane in the heart of Colne Engaine, The Five Bells benefits from both local customers and visitors exploring the Colne Valley area. The village itself is a charming rural community with strong connections to neighbouring countryside and a traditional way of life, making the pub a natural meeting point for residents and travellers alike. The Five Bells is easily accessible by road via the A1124 and A131, with convenient connections to the A120 providing routes towards Braintree and Bishop’s Stortford. The nearest mainline railway stations are at Sudbury and Marks Tey, offering regular services to London Liverpool Street and surrounding destinations.
Pub Layout
The main entrance opens directly into a welcoming bar servery, immediately setting the tone for the pub. Adjacent to the bar is a small coffee station, while to the right hand side lies the principal bar area, featuring a pool table, gaming machine, and a varied mix of seating designed primarily for drinkers. This space offers direct access to the patio area, which comfortably accommodates up to 40 outdoor covers, making it ideal for warmer months and informal gatherings. To the left of the entrance, the pub opens out into a more relaxed seating area centred around a wood burner, leading seamlessly into the dining spaces beyond. The dining area is thoughtfully arranged, providing a flexible mix of layouts suitable for both intimate tables and larger group dining. The main dining room is a standout feature full of character and atmosphere creating a warm and engaging setting for customers. Modern customer toilet facilities are conveniently located to the left of the dining area, ensuring ease of access without disrupting the overall flow of the space. Overall, the layout is well considered, with clearly defined yet connected zones that allow the pub to cater comfortably for a wide range of customer occasions, from casual drinks and outdoor socialising to relaxed dining and group celebrations, all within a welcoming and characterful environment.
The pub is a well presented and thoughtfully laid out village local, offering a welcoming, traditional pub atmosphere while delivering a food offer that reaches beyond the immediate village community. It benefits from a strong internal dining space suited to key trading sessions, complemented by an attractive outdoor patio that comes into its own during warmer, sunnier evenings. Currently, food is served from Thursday to Sunday, though there is clear opportunity to expand this offer and extend trading across the week. In particular, the pub would benefit from introducing a clear value-led weekday daytime food proposition to attract custom from nearby pubs, eateries, and local workers. Drinks trade is anchored by popular cask ales, while there is further potential to capture the after-work and early evening market through a stronger range of session beers, alongside a quality and well-balanced selection of wines and spirits that would appeal to village residents. At present, the business is understood to be trading at approximately £4,000–£6,000 per week, with food accounting for around 35–40% of total turnover. With its strong physical assets, village setting, and scope to broaden both food and drink offers, the pub is well placed to grow into a vibrant, food-led community hub with increased weekday and all-day relevance.
The private accommodation, accessed from the rear of the property, or through the trade area, consists of two bedrooms, a lounge and bathroom. There is also further space that has in the past been used as an office space. The accommodation is in good condition.
Annual Rent: £24,605
Security Deposit: £5,000 or the equivalent of three months’ rent, whichever is greater
Working Capital: £2,000
Stock: £4,500
Fixtures and Fittings: To be confirmed upon valuation – funding options may be available for the right licensee.
Tie: All drinks categories are tied. For fully funded licensees on long term agreements, we offer free-of-tie options for certain drinks categories in exchange for an annual fee.
For a breakdown on financial information, please refer to the ‘Additional Info’ tab.
Annual Rent – This is our lowest rent figure associated with a Full Tie. If the tie is reduced the effective rent (via Tie Release Fees) will increase. Rent is billed and paid for weekly in advance depending on the payment terms agreed). On occasion, our Business Development Manager will discuss a start up rent which is discretionary to an individual pub and can be discussed.
Security Deposit – A security deposit is required when applying for a pub with Admiral. This will be the greater of £5,000 or three months’ headline rent. The deposit is held on your account and returned when you leave, subject to your final account balance and the condition of the property. We will also carry out a credit check as part of your application, which may affect the deposit amount required.
Working Capital – This is a recommend amount required which will be used in the day-to-day running of the business.
Stock – This will be valued by an independent valuer on the day you take over the pub. This includes unbranded glassware, unopened bottles, wines, spirits, any unopened / opened kegs and cask ale providing the container is unopened.
Fixtures & Fittings – This includes any item that is bolted to the floor or walls, and a fitting to be any item that is free standing or hung by a nail or hook. This will also include furniture.
Tie: All drinks categories are tied. For fully funded licensees on long term agreements, we offer free-of-tie options for certain drinks categories in exchange for an annual fee.
Training – £350.00 – Before signing a long term agreement, you will be required to attend our 7 Steps to Sales Success training programme. Held online over two days, you will learn marketing and business strategies that will help you to grow sales in your pub – step-by-step.
Service Charge Cost – £65.86 per week – The Admiral Taverns Premium Maintenance Package will help take care of your compliance and statutory obligations with one simple fee, whilst giving you piece of mind about your boiler and cellar cooling repair and replacement. This also includes full access to e-learning for you and your staff.
Zero Business Rates* – Based on the draft rating list for April 2026, the Nil Rates Payable is based on small business rates relief being applied for by the licensee and the licensee only occupying one property for commercial purposes. Please note, this only applies to pubs marked with an Asterix *
We believe we do things differently to other pub companies. To us its quite simple – great pubs are run by great people, so we focus on ensuring we can empower you to run a successful pub business. Every licensee is different, and no two pubs are the same, so we carefully tailor the range of agreements, support and training packages we offer to give you all you need to run your own pub.
The first step is to call our recruitment team and have a chat with us. We’ll probably suggest you attend one of our recruitment events as nothing beats a face to face chat. It’s also a good idea to research the sort of pub you are interested in ahead of time, so you have a clear picture of the competition in the area and what the local community looks for in that pub.
In order to run a pub, you will need a personal license which regulates the sale of alcohol in a pub. This can be achieved through attending a one-day course, ending in a multiple-choice exam. Once you’ve passed the exam, you then need to apply to your local council, for your personal licence. Admiral can easily help you with this by offering a discounted rate. Finally, you will also need to complete PEAT training (Pre Entry Awareness Training), an online course which explains the leased and tenanted pub agreement you are about to take on.
Our default agreement is our 5 Year Tenancy Agreement with a range of support available to you throughout your agreement with Admiral. We also offer induction training, our 7 Steps to Sales Success course is a 2 day online course that will provide you with the knowledge to run a pub and get you off to a great start before you get started. In addition to this, we offer other training workshops on a wide range of topics such as Marketing, Social Media, Cellar Training along with online training including Food Hygiene, Health & Safety and lots of other related courses. There is simply training available for every subject. When you take on a pub with us, your Business Development Manager will discuss your training requirements with you and identify areas where you may benefit from additional support or training.
Rents are based on open market value, Fair Maintainable Trade (FMT) and the future trading potential of the premises. This entails an assessment of the turnover and profitability that a reasonably efficient operator would be expected to achieve, taking into account the optimum trading style for the premises and making reasonable allowances for costs. This will involve estimating the trading potential rather than just adopting the actual level of trade under the existing ownership. This method of valuation is known as “the Profits Method”.
We want to empower our licensees to get on with the day to day running of the pub, as well as giving you the knowledge that you can count on us for as much (or as little) support as you need. Our team are truly passionate about community pubs and we want to do as much as we can to help you run sustainable and profitable businesses. Our support includes but isn’t limited to the following: Commercial & Marketing Support, Food Team, Licensing, Property Help Desk, Investments, Machines and Training.
Our BDMs work hard to build strong working relationships with their licensees. Your BDM is there to help you develop your pub and can support you in many different ways. From guidance around products and pricing, planning events, marketing your pub and development and training, our BDMs are empowered to make quick decisions which will help you move forward with your business.
We are continually investing in our pubs. From transformational refurbishments to small improvements where it really counts, we run an active investment programme and are committed to improving our estate of pubs. We also are fully invested in working alongside our licensees during the investment process to bring their ideas to fruition.
Admiral operates under the tenanted and leased model whereby we as the pub company own the pub and agree to rent the premises to you via a lease or tenancy agreement. Most tenancies/leases include a negotiated supply agreement covering the purchase of all drinks categories and possibly a range of other goods and services (hence the phrase ‘tied’ pubs). The level of rent you agree to pay at your pub will be dependent upon the extent of your purchasing obligations. Our rent offers are based on a Full Tie, and hence reflects the lowest rent payable. For licensees on long term agreements, we offer free-of-tie options for certain drinks categories in exchange for an annual fee. The prices you pay for drinks purchased from Admiral are likely to be different to those on the open market. When you take on the pub your BDM will discuss rent and the tie with you.
To enter into any tenancy agreement with Admiral, you will normally have to consider the following costs:
Personal Licence fee – This is the fee for obtaining your Personal Licence which you will require if you intend to be the Designated Premises Supervisor named on the premises licence.
Fixtures and Fittings (e.g. furniture, kitchen equipment, light
fittings, carpets etc) – These are usually valued on the day you enter the property. Whilst we prefer you to purchase the fixtures and fittings outright, there are occasions where we can provide alternative methods of purchase or may consider a rental agreement. Your BDM will discuss these options with you.
Deposit – The size of the deposit (or security bond) varies depending on the property and the commercial terms agreed but is normally the greater of a quarter’s rent or £5,000 and will be held for the duration of your agreement. In exceptional circumstances, we may allow you to pay a lower deposit and build this up over a time period.
Stock and glassware – These are purchased when you take over your pub, at an agreed valuation, from either the outgoing tenant or Admiral.
Working capital – The amount of working capital required (cash available) varies by pub, as each individual business requires different levels of funding. Your BDM will discuss this with you.
Pre Entry Awareness Training (PEAT) – This is mandatory training designed to raise awareness on the matters involved in operating a pub, from agreements, repairs and purchasing obligations. The cost of this course is £100 plus VAT.
Yes absolutely. We are always keen to encourage successful licensees to develop. Our BDMs work together with our licensees to achieve this and identify new opportunities. We also run training workshops to help you to gain the right skills, so you can take the step from running just one business to expanding with a second pub.
Admiral Taverns accept payment by Direct Debit or Open Banking (Pay by Link) only. Our Business Development Managers will discuss which method is most appropriate for you during the application process.
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