Heineken to invest £39m in Star estate
Heineken UK has said it is investing £39m in upgrading and reopening pubs.
One of the UK's largest brewers and pub operators has announced plans to invest nearly £40m into its estate this year.
Heineken UK has said it is investing £39m in upgrading and reopening pubs in its Star Pubs’ estate, creating an estimated 1,075 new jobs.
A quarter (612) of Star's 2,400 pubs are in line for improvement, with 94 of these set for makeovers costing on average £200,000.
The investment will also cover works to reopen 62 long-term closed locals in 2024. By the end of the year, Star will have reopened 156 such pubs since the start of 2023, reducing the number of closed pubs in its estate to pre-pandemic levels.
"After all the disruption of recent years, Star is on track to have the lowest number of closed pubs since 2019," says says Lawson Mountstevens, Star Pubs’ managing director. "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. Time and again we see the value consumers place on having a good local and how important it is to communities. Well-invested pubs run by great licensees are here to stay, but like all locals, they need government support to reduce the enormous tax burden they shoulder."
Suburban settings
With working from home more commonplace and people looking to save on travel, Star's major refurbishments will 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. Subtle zoning will signpost pub goers to the area likely to suit them best, enabling different groups of customers to simultaneously enjoy a variety of activities – from watching sports to dining – without disturbing each other.
Other common changes will include overhauling cellars with state-of-the-art dispense equipment to ensure consistent pints and repositioning tills to speed up service.
Furthering progress against Heineken UK’s ambition to be net zero across its entire value chain by 2040, substantial projects will feature energy efficiency measures, such as heating controls, insulation and low-energy lighting, that will typically cost £12,500 per pub and cut energy use by 15%.
You may also be interested in…
