Heineken UK invests £44.5m across hundreds of Star Pubs

Heineken UK is to invest £44.5m to upgrade roughly a quarter of its Star Pubs estate.

The programme will impact 647 pubs out of the group’s 2,350-strong estate, with plans already in place for a complete transformation of 108 pubs costing £145,000 or more.

There will be a focus on enhancing sports and entertainment through the addition of halo-lit darts boards, the roll-out of Sky Q and outdoor television screens across an extra 100 pubs in time for the World Cup.

The scheme is also expected to create 850 new jobs and support 536 local pub operators who lease their building from Star Pubs.

Over the past eight years, the brewer and pub operator has invested £328m into supporting local licensees, and in the year to date has opened 52 sites – its fastest start to the year since 2020.

Heineken will also trial a new pub format targeting younger adults, where the offer will change from morning coffee and co-working spaces to evening drinks, live music and competitive socialising.

Lawson Mountstevens, managing director at Star Pubs, said: “Pubs are a fantastic institution, admired the world over. 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.

“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.”

Last year, Heineken invested £40m across its community pub estate.