NewsBy Amelie Maurice-JonesBalfour Hospitality has announced the sale of Hush Heath Inns, a joint venture with Stonegate Pub Company, as it doubles down on growing its award-winning Kent-based winery. The group’s five-pub portfolio has hit the market, ending its eight-year partnership with the UK’s largest pub operator Stonegate. Since 2017, the Kent-based operator has grown Hush Heath Inns into a collection of inns, including the Falcon Hotel in Painswick, The Woolpack in Tenterden, The Ship in Rye, The Swan in Forest Row and The Windmill in Hollingbourne. “Here’s to the future, continuing to push the boundaries of English wine and hospitality.”Pub sector strugglesThis comes as English wine booms but the pub sector suffers. While English wine sales grew 3% last year, running a vineyard is no walk in the park; the market comes with challenges as well as opportunity.