The Pig set to expand with two new hotels

Luxury UK hotel brand The Pig is set to expand over the next two years with two new properties in the pipeline.

A statement from the group said it was “working hard” to achieve planning permission to convert two listed buildings it has acquired in Warwickshire and Kent, with the properties set to open in 2024 and 2025 respectively.

The Pig-on the farm will be the first to open and will be located just south of Stratford-upon-Avon on the southwest edge of the Walton Estate in South Warwickshire, close to the borders of Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire.

The 53-acre site features a mid-16^th century listed stone-built farmhouse surrounded by convertible barns, stables and out-houses. Part of a deserted Medieval village also lies near the existing house alongside a major tributary to the River Dene.

The second property, The Pig-at Groombridge, will be set in a historic moated manor house in the village of Groombridge, which straddles the border of East Sussex and Kent, southwest of Tunbridge Wells.

The house, formerly known as Groombridge Place, was built in 1662 by barrister and architect Philip Packer, while the moat dates back to the 13^th century.

The property has formed the backdrop to numerous films including the 2005 production of Pride and Prejudice starring Kiera Knightley.

The Pig said each property will be “sensitively restored” with sustainability “front and centre of decisions”.

As with other Pig hotels, the two new additions will feature restaurants championing the brand’s famous 25-mile menu, whereby what can’t be grown or raised within the grounds is sourced from within a 25-mile radius of each property.

Each hotel is also expected to feature land for vegetable and fruit production, including polytunnels; a mushroom-growing house; an on-site smokery; and resident pigs, sheep, hens and quail.

Both properties are expected to be “slightly larger” than the existing portfolio, with The Pig at Groombridge expected to offer approximately 40 bedrooms with views of the property’s moat, gardens and vineyard.

Chairman Robin Hutson said: “We are excited to acquire two genuinely unspoilt listed gems. We look forward to doing these beautiful buildings justice and restoring them sensitively, with their historic importance at the forefront of our decision making.

“These fascinating buildings complement our existing portfolio with each of them situated some distance from our other hotels. As with all of our hotels, we hope to create these with unique characteristics yet still very much designed with the quality of detail that has become the Pig look.”

The Pig’s existing portfolio currently includes eight hotels, including The Pig, The Pig-near Bath, The Pig-on the beach, The Pig-at Combe, The Pig-in the wall, The Pig-at Bridge Place, The Pig-at Harlyn Bay and The Pig-in the South Downs.