West Suffolk-based Chestnut Inns has made its third acquisition.

The company, formed for former banker and corporate financier Philip Turner, has completed the purchase of Ounce House in Northgate Street, Bury St Edmunds.

The deal comes just three months after the opening of Chestnut Inns’ second venture, the Rupert Brooke, in Grantchester, near Cambridge, complementing its initial investment, the Packhorse Inn at Moulton, near Newmarket, which opened in October 2013.

Ounce House, a red brick, gable-ended, three-storey property, five minutes’ walk from Bury town centre, has been purchased from Simon and Jenny Pott, its owners for more than 30 years, who ran the property as a five star-rated guest house.

Work will begin immediately on a significant refurbishment to provide a bar, a dining area, private dining and meeting room facilities and boutique accommodation, in keeping with the style established at the two existing businesses. The aim is to reopen the doors in the autumn.

Mr Turner said: “Bury St Edmunds was the logical next move. It is perfectly positioned in relation to the other businesses; close enough to be part of an operational support structure and yet far enough away to have its own customer base and target market.

“Bury St Edmunds is growing both as a hub for tourism in the region as well as being recognised as a focus for the promotion of great Suffolk food and drink.

“Locally sourced food, great service and a traditional role at the heart of the community – that is what Chestnut Inns is all about and what we will be working to achieve with the Northgate Street site.”

The agent for the sale of Ounce House was Whatley Lane.