Heineken is set to inject GBP40m (US$53.3m) into its UK-based Star Pubs business unit this year.
The brewer announced that 608 venues, comprising around 25% of Star Pubs’ portfolio, will receive the funding and roughly 1,000 jobs will be created. Heineken added that ten pubs are set to be reopened while 104 have been “earmarked for transformational revamps costing GBP120,000-plus”.
Having spent GBP9.5m reopening 62 closed sites last year, Heineken said that it has invested a total of GBP194m into its pubs from 2020 to the end of 2024.
“Consistent investment – rather than a stop, start approach – and a strategy of creating great locals have been key to helping our pubs weather the storms of the last few years,” said Star Pubs’ MD, Lawson Mountstevens.
“Heineken sees first-hand the value in great British pubs and their ongoing popularity. It recognises that Brits love their locals and that well-invested pubs trade better. This GBP40m inward investment from a Dutch business into UK pubs is a resounding vote of confidence in the future of the sector.”
Last week, the group’s UK division purchased an unspecified size minority stake in the Tenzing “natural” energy drinks brand.
