Success of Pivo brand could lead to England opening for brewer
Scotland's biggest regional brewer Belhaven could be on the brink of opening its first outlets in England.
The opportunity has come with the success of its Czech-themed bars Pivo Caffe. Three have opened in Edinburgh, Stirling and Dundee and others are planned for Aberdeen and Inverness.
If the roll-out continues according to plan, Belhaven Pubs managing director Jeff Myers said he would take the brand south of the border.
"We will be looking at major city sites," he said.
"This could be a very big deal for us. We thought about going into England with our Celtic brand Drouthy Neebors, but decided against it because we want to go with a brand that can be instantly recognised.
"We believe that brand is Pivo."
Myers has been pleasantly surprised with the level of beer volumes through the concept, which are high for a style of bar that is usually spirits-led.
It has hit 65 per cent of wet sales at the Stirling outlet, half of that draught beer dispensed through dramatic countermounts that form the centrepiece of the bar.
Czech brands Pilsner Urquell and Staropramen are good sellers - as well as the Scots must-stock Tennent's Lager. Budweiser Budvar is the best-selling bottled beer.
Bass, which brews Staropramen as well as Tennent's, is supporting the roll-out of Pivo with both cash and merchandising while South African Breweries, which recently acquired Pilsner Urquell, helps pay for the fonts, which cost £2,000 apiece.
Belhaven's music venues, branded as The Yard, are also expanding with the fourth, following Stirling, Greenock and Kilmarnock, opening in Aberdeen in October.
The fifth will be in Dumfries where the company plans to spend up to £1m converting a Victorian factory into a three-level venue.
Belhaven now has 50 managed houses and more than 80 tenancies, having recently bought six community pubs from Maclay.
Mr Myers expects to add another 20 outlets before the end of the year.
"In the past we have always bought pubs one by one, but now I think we are ready for a bigger step," Mr Myers said.
"We are looking for groups of a dozen or more pubs to keep growing and we have a target of reaching 200 pubs by the year after next."