Heineken to invest £40m in UK pub arm Star Pubs

The plan will see ten pubs reopen this year, while 104 other venues are in line for a refurbishment of a least £120,000, Just Drinks reports.

The brewer spent £9.5m in 2024 reopening 62 closed pubs.

Heineken said that despite difficult trading conditions recent years, it has invested £194m into its pubs from 2020 to the end of 2024.

“Major refurbishments will make over pubs with stylish, comfortable and welcoming decors designed to entice pubgoers and cater for a wide range of customers and occasions,” the company said in a statement.

“Every project will be sympathetic to the building and its history, retaining and preserving original features,” it added.

Star Pubs’ managing director Lawson Mountstevens said: “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 £40m inward investment from a Dutch business into UK pubs is a resounding vote of confidence in the future of the sector,” he said.

“Even with pressures on disposable income, people are still prioritising a trip to their local, valuing it as an everyday treat and as a way of connecting with their community. But they want to be guaranteed a quality experience: relaxing in an attractive setting is an important factor when pubgoers choose where to spend their money.”

Mountstevens called on the UK government to lower taxes on pub owners, which he called “disproportionate.”

Star Pubs licensee Jules Verhulpen reopened the Six Bells pub in Littlehampton, southern England at the end of April after a three-and-a-half-year closure. “We want The Six Bells to become a community within a community, somewhere that residents can come together to socialise and to enjoy events like quizzes, bingo, and themed food nights,” he said.