Heineken to invest over £1.64m in Yorkshire & Humber pubs

• 612 pubs nationwide to benefit from investment, creating 1,075 new jobs

• More than £1.64m reserved for Yorkshire & Humber pubs 

• Pubgoers eager to go out despite the cost-of-living crisis 

• Revamps enable pubs to cater for multiple occasions and maximise events

HEINEKEN UK is investing £39m in upgrading and reopening pubs in its Star Pubs’ estate in 2024 – demonstrating its confidence in the resilience of the great British local in the face of global uncertainty. The move will create an estimated 1,075 new jobs.  Over £1.64m is allotted to Yorkshire & Humber pub investments with a further £90,000 invested by licensees. 37 jobs will be created in the region on the back of the refurbishments. 

A quarter (612) of HEINEKEN UK’s 2,400 pubs are in line for improvement nationally, with 94 of these set for makeovers costing on average £200,000. 

One pub that has benefited from this investment is The Ship, Worsbrough, Barnsley. A £370k refurbishment reopened The Ship in February 2024 following a four-and-a-half-year closure, creating 11 jobs. A community local specialising in entertainment and sport, The Ship serves drinks only and has bar and lounge areas plus a games zone kitted out with pool, darts and screens showing Sky sports. It holds coffee mornings for senior citizens, care home residents and mother & toddler groups and has football, darts and pool teams. It also puts on charity fundraisers and provides meeting space for local groups. In the evenings, there are weekly quiz, bingo, karaoke and live music nights. Explains new licensee Rebecca Skelly: “The Ship needed a complete facelift to get customers back – a lick of paint wouldn’t have cut it. The smart new design has been key to converting residents into regulars. The Ship is proof of the need and demand for traditional locals. It’s part of the town’s history. Everyone comes here, from families with children to retirees – it’s a social hub, especially for the neighbourhood’s senior citizens, many of whom sat at home alone before The Ship opened again.”

With working from home more commonplace and people looking to save on travel, 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 pubgoers 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. Dividing screens and distinct changes to lighting, sound systems and furniture styles will help delineate the zones. The new designs will have a stylish classic feel, providing longevity. Reflecting customers’ increased expectations, the projects will be carried out to a high standard and will impact every part of the pubs, from the toilets to the gardens. 

Other common changes will include overhauling cellars with state-of-the-art dispense equipment to ensure consistently perfect 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%.

Lawson Mountstevens, Star Pubs’ Managing Director, said: “People are looking for maximum value from visits to their local. They want great surroundings and food and drink as well as activities that give them an extra reason to go out, such as sports screenings and entertainment. Creating fantastic locals that can accommodate a range of occasions meets this need and helps pubs fulfil their role as vital third spaces where communities can come together. 

“Pubs have proved their enduring appeal; after all the disruption of recent years, Star is on track to have the lowest number of long-term closed pubs since 2019. It’s a tribute to the drive and entrepreneurship of licensees and the importance of continued investment. We’ve spent more than £200m maintaining and upgrading 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, need Government support to reduce the enormous tax burden they shoulder.”

More information on Star Pubs’ website.