Last month (August), Heineken’s pub arm Star Pubs & Bars announced a £38m programme, targeted at benefiting almost a third of its portfolio by the end of this year.
The scheme will benefit 700 local pubs across England and Wales, creating an estimate 500 new jobs. It builds on Heineken UK’s £62m investment in rent reductions during the pandemic.
The pub company revealed almost 80 pubs will received major makeovers, costing between £125,000 and £400,000 each.
It will focus on creating premium locals in suburban and high street locations within a 10 minute walk from residential areas.
The refurbishments will also aim to make pubs more comfortable and stylish inside, improve beer gardens, the introduction of a better quality food offer alongside drinks.
Belief in the great British pub
Following on from this, The Morning Advertiser chatted with Star operations director Mick Howard to find out more.
He said: “It's great Star has been backed by Heineken again, with a large amount of money to invest in pubs.
“It shows our belief in the great British pub. We saw investment throughout the pandemic in rent concessions for pubs to the tune of £62m and we are now [investing] £38m to develop pubs in 2022.
“That's a similar amount to what we invested this year.
“We hope we'll touch 80 pubs. The investment will range from £125,000/£150,000 to £400,000 plus. It will create hundreds of hundreds of jobs.
“Our belief is the great British pub is at the centre of the community and we invest in the pubs, the community then react and work with the pub, we have a fantastic showcase for our brands as well as a brilliant business for our customers to enjoy and tenants to run.”
Industry-wide issues
Furthermore, Howard outlined how current issues including delivery delays and recruitment are hitting the business.
He added: “These are industry-wide issues, it's unfortunate for all of us.
“First and foremost, we are seeking to ensure we are communicating with the pubs, over-communicating with the pubs and keeping them informed with what's happening.
“The logistical issues, we are doing absolutely everything we can to get our beers and ciders into the pubs and into the hands of our customers.
“These issues are driven by a number of things whether that be the 'pingdemic', Brexit, HGV [test] weren't being taken during lockdown and furlough period, change in tax wars that have meant people have moved out of driving lorries.
“We are still finding off-trade is still having unprecedented demand. There's a drain on supply there.”
Watch the video above to find out more.