Brasserie Bar Co rebrands to Heartwood Collection

Brasserie Bar Co will be rebranding to Heartwood Collection, marking its strategy and evolution into becoming a freehold pub company with a brasserie division. 

As a result of this move, one of the group’s brands, White Brasserie Company, will become Heartwood Inns effective from 6 July. 

News of the rebrand comes as Heartwood Collection, which currently operates 20 pubs and 14 Brasserie Blanc restaurants across the UK, is planning to grow significantly as a freehold business in future years.

According to the group, the name Heartwood was chosen because it is the oldest and innermost core of a tree, and is “as strong as steel and provides the structure from which it can grow and thrive”. 

As part of the rebrand, the current leadership team will remain in place, with Mark Derry as chairman and Richard Ferrier as managing director. Raymond Blanc will also continue directing the menu evolution, the quality of sourcing, and the development of people.

The group aims to have almost 400 boutique bedrooms by June 2027, which will create a further 1,500 jobs across the UK. 

Mark Derry, chairman of Heartwood Collection, said: “As Heartwood Collection, our offer will be grounded in a winning combination of serving premium quality food in atmospheric pubs. More than this, we see real opportunity to leverage our hospitality expertise and become a significant operator of pubs-with-rooms, filling that current gap in the market for memorable boutique stays.

“This is the right time for us to make this change. Our new name reflects not only the business we are today, but it underlines the ambition we have to become a leading freehold pub business of real scale.”

He added: “With the ongoing support of our new owners Alchemy, we will continue to target the opening of new sites, and I look forward to bringing Heartwood’s pub offer to new towns and local communities throughout the UK.”