Heineken to reopen 62 more 'lost' boozers with 150 pubs to be brought back by end of year
Lager giant Heineken is bucking the trend of pub closures by reopening a wave of mothballed locals.
The brewer owns Star Pubs, a business with 2,400 pubs across the country, and it has unveiled plans to reopen 62 sites classed as “long-term closed”. By the end of the year, it aims to have reopened 156 such pubs since the start of 2023. Heineken is also giving 612 of its pubs a makeover this year. In total, the company says it will invest £39million into refurbishments and reopenings in 2024, creating almost 1,100 jobs. It comes as the British Beer and Pub Association reported over 500 pubs shut for good last year, leaving 45,306 still operating in the UK.
Rob Hattersley at The Ashford Arms, Ashford-in-the-Water, Derbyshire
And it predicts 750 more could be lost by July due to high costs and changing habits, such as more people working from home. An average 940 a year were lost from 2014 to 2019. Heineken aims to “transform tired pubs in suburban areas into premium locals”. And among those to reopen this year is The Ashford Arms in Ashford-in-the-Water, Derbyshire.
The Grade II listed inn shut in March 2020 but is back trading after a £1.6million refurbishment by Star Pubs and Rob Hattersley of Longbow Venues. Rob said: “Locals have embraced the new-look pub. We’ve been fully booked for meals, room bookings are flooding in and sales are a third higher than expected.”
Rebecca Skelly at the Ship in Worsbrough, Barnsley
The Ship in Worsbrough, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, reopened in February after a £370,000 makeover following four-and-a-half years closed. New licensee Rebecca Skelly said: “The Ship needed a facelift to get customers back. It is proof of the need for traditional locals. Everyone comes here, from families to retirees. It’s a social hub.”
Lawson Mountstevens, Star Pubs’ managing director, said: “Well-invested pubs run by great licensees are here to stay but they need Government support to reduce the enormous tax burden they shoulder.”