Heineken has announced a £44.5m investment to upgrade 647 pubs in its 2,350-strong Star Pubs estate this year. The programme includes the complete transformation of 108 pubs, and will create an estimated 850 jobs.
Five hundred and thirty-six of the locals set to benefit are independently operated by licensees who lease the buildings from Star Pubs and run the pubs as their own. The remaining 111 venues are operator managed non-branded pubs that are popular with those starting out in the trade.
Heineken has pumped £328m into its pubs since 2018. At a time when the UK is losing approximately one pub a day, Star Pubs has fewer closed pubs than before the pandemic.
The company has already broken ground at 52 sites, its fastest start to the year since 2020. Eight of these projects involve re-opening boarded-up pubs that have been closed for significant periods, including one that has been shut for seven years
Major refurbishments will focus on developing top-quality pubs that appeal to the whole community and have different areas for drinking, dining, and sports or entertainment. About a quarter of these bigger revamps will elevate sports.
To ensure the pubs retain their relevance with generations to come, Heineken will trial a new model designed to appeal to younger adults. The offer will change from morning coffee and space to work from the pub during the day, to DJs, open mic sessions, and live music at night, along with competitive socialising, such as shuffleboard and giant board games.
“Pubs are a fantastic institution, admired the world over,” said Star Pubs’ managing director Lawson Mountstevens. “We’re proud to be a leading investor in Britain’s independently operated locals, and to be playing a part in securing their future, along with our dedicated and entrepreneurial licensees.
“Investment is essential if pubs are to remain a first choice for people looking for somewhere to socialise. It is also critical for pubs needing to generate extra revenue to fund the sustained increases in running costs they’ve faced in recent years.
“However we can only do so much. The root-and-branch reform of business rates that the industry has been calling for over many years is urgently required, as well as a lowering of the burden of taxation on pubs, including VAT and beer duty. We are calling on the government to support us in bringing out the best in the Great British pub.”
He added: “Importantly, this investment will create flexible job opportunities in communities across the country, and give many young people their first taste of the world of work.”
