Geronimo taking the plunge with £9m buys

London pubs firm Geronimo is surging ahead despite the economic downturn, splashing out between £8 million and £9 million on six pubs in the capital.

Geronimo has bought the Northcote in Clapham, the Prince Albert in Battersea, the Elgin in Ladbroke Grove, the Curtain's Up in West Kensington, the Clarence in Whitehall and the Ben Crouch in the West End, all from embattled giant Punch Taverns. The firm expects to employ another 70 people at the new pubs.

Rupert Clevely, chief executive of Geronimo Inns, said: "We are delighted to have secured a quality portfolio of pubs to add to Geronimo's existing estate and to have successfully raised capital in a very difficult funding climate."

He described the acquisition as a "quantum leap" in the group's development.

The shopping spree means Geronimo now presides over 27 pubs, including three at Heathrow airport.

The deal is Punch Taverns' fourth big pub sale in the past two weeks. It has sold more than 60 pubs since March.