As the summer season officially gets underway, Torbay is already welcoming an influx of visitors to the English Riviera, with a packed calendar of events attracting tourists from across the UK and beyond.
From spectacular air displays and live music events to Agatha Christie experiences, seafood festivals, sporting competitions and the highly anticipated SUP World Cup, the Bay continues to demonstrate its broad appeal to a diverse range of visitors. The variety and quality of events on offer further reinforces Torbay’s position as one of the South West’s premier tourism destinations.
Whilst the team at Charles Darrow has enjoyed attending and supporting many of the events taking place across the English Riviera, we have also witnessed a notable increase in activity within the leisure and hospitality property market.
Over recent months, enquiry levels across the sector have strengthened considerably, which is particularly encouraging given the wider economic challenges facing many areas of the property market. Perhaps more importantly, the quality of buyers currently entering the market is exceptionally strong, with many prospective purchasers being well-funded, or, experienced operators actively seeking their next acquisition.
Although buyers continue to undertake thorough due diligence, the questions being raised are sensible, commercially focused and indicative of serious intent. We are seeing purchasers move decisively when the right opportunity becomes available, resulting in robust offers being submitted and several leisure businesses already progressing under offer.
In addition, we are currently negotiating on a number of further transactions following strong levels of competitive bidding, providing further evidence of the confidence returning to the market.
James Sanders, Director at Charles Darrow commented:
“It is extremely encouraging to see such positive momentum across the Torbay leisure market. The volume of enquiries has increased significantly, but what is particularly pleasing is the quality of buyers we are speaking with. There remains a healthy level of caution and due diligence, as you would expect, but purchasers are actively pursuing opportunities and we are seeing strong offers being made on well-presented businesses.
With the summer season now upon us and visitor numbers already looking positive, we remain optimistic about the months ahead and look forward to seeing continued activity across the leisure and hospitality sectors throughout the remainder of 2026.”
Charles Darrow continues to act on a range of hotels, guest houses, holiday letting businesses, pubs, restaurants and lifestyle enterprises throughout Torbay and the wider South West. Owners considering a sale are encouraged to contact the team for a confidential discussion regarding current market conditions and business values.