Brewing giant Heineken will reopen 62 pubs that were closed in recent years and invest £39m in refurbishing hundreds of sites across the UK. The company said the cash injection into its Star Pubs chain will create more than 1,000 new jobs.
The UK pubs industry has been hard hit by closures both during the Covid pandemic and afterwards as cost of living pressures weighed on consumer spending. Between 2021 and 2023, pubs have shut at a rate of 500 a year, according to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA).
Star plans to renovate more than 600 pubs – around a quarter of the 2,400-strong chain – choosing locations it said reflect how many of its customers have cut back on how often they commute into city centres.
Heineken said: “With working from home more commonplace and people looking to save on travel, major refurbishments will concentrate on transforming tired pubs in suburban areas into premium locals.”
The company said that by the end of this year, the UK operation will have reopened 156 pubs since the start of 2023, “reducing the number of closed pubs in its estate to pre-pandemic levels”.
During Covid, pubs were forced to close to prevent the spread of the virus. When they were allowed to reopen, they faced a number of restrictions including mandatory table service, limits on the size of groups and a 10pm curfew.
In early 2021, Heineken announced it would cut 8,000 jobs globally. The following year it warned inflation – which measures the pace of price raises – was “off the charts”, in particular on commodities such as barley and aluminum. This was before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022 which lifted the cost of energy, fuel and grains.
The average price of a pint of draught lager reached £4.71 in March, according to the Office for National Statistics, compared to £3.76 in February 2020 before widespread pandemic lockdowns the following month.
Meanwhile, the number of pubs in the UK has fallen from 47,200 in 2019, before Covid, to 45,350 in 2023, data from the BBPA shows. However, pub numbers have been declining for some time, A decade ago there were 52,500 in operation which is 7,150 more than 2023.
Heineken hopes the revamp of its pubs will tempt drinkers and diners back, including using “subtle zoning” to allow customers to enjoy different activities like watching sports and dining “without disturbing each other”.
It said it will use dividing screens and distinct changes to lighting, sound systems and furniture styles to “help delineate the zones”.
The announcement by Heineken is the latest indication that the British pub industry is seeing signs of growth after major blows from the pandemic and the cost of living crisis.
Last week, major pub chain Greene King said it would open its new £40m brewery by 2027.
Greene King, known for brands such as Abbot Ale, Greene King IPA and Old Speckled Hen, said the move represented a “long-term commitment to British brewing”.
The 225-year-old company, which was sold to Hong Kong operator CKA in 2019, owns about 2,700 pubs, restaurants and hotels in the UK.
Source: BBC
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