Heineken UK has revealed that it is investing £39m in upgrading and reopening some of the sites in its Star Pubs estate as it taps into trends such as working from home and easing cost of living pressures.
A quarter (612) of the group’s 2,400 pubs are in line for improvement, with 94 of these set for makeovers costing an average of £200,000. The investment will also cover works during 2024 to reopen 62 sites that were closed in recent years amid tough conditions in the hospitality sector. By the end of the year, Heineken UK will have reopened 156 such pubs since the start of 2023, reducing the number of closed pubs in its estate to pre-pandemic levels.
Figures from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) show that pubs were shutting at a rate of 500 a year between 2021 and 2023 as costs surged and consumer demand weakened.
Heineken noted that with working from home more commonplace and people looking to save on travel, its refurbishments would concentrate on transforming tired pubs in suburban areas into “premium locals”. The revamps are designed to broaden each pub’s use and appeal, giving people additional reasons to visit.
The brewer is introducing zoning that signposts pubgoers to the area likely to suit them best, enabling different groups of people to simultaneously enjoy a variety of activities – from watching sports to dining – without disturbing each other. Other changes will include overhauling cellars with new and improved dispensing equipment and repositioning tills to speed up service.
Lawson Mountstevens, Star Pubs’ Managing Director, said: “People are looking for maximum value from visits to their local. They want great surroundings and food and drink as well as activities that give them an extra reason to go out, such as sports screenings and entertainment. Creating fantastic locals that can accommodate a range of occasions meets this need and helps pubs fulfil their role as vital third spaces where communities can come together.
“Pubs have proved their enduring appeal; after all the disruption of recent years, Star is on track to have the lowest number of closed pubs since 2019. It’s a tribute to the drive and entrepreneurship of licensees and the importance of continued investment. We’ve spent more than £200m upgrading and maintaining our pubs over the last five years, and we’ll continue to invest to keep them open and thriving.”
NAM Implications:
- Build/rebuild a better City centre pub…
- …and clients will ‘beat a path to your door’.
- Do the same locally for WFM clients for a similar result…
