Demand for its leased pubs is high in spite of concerns about the economy says Star Pubs & Bars. The company's latest recruitment figures reveal that pubs taken on a lease were up a third at the end of 2018 compared to the end of 2017, and applications for pubs were up 12.5%1, and are showing no signs of abating.
Interest in Star Pubs & Bars’ managed operator, Just Add Talent pubs, was also strong. The pub company attributes this to the quality and location of the available sites and the financials of the deal for operators, which it believes to be the best in the industry.
Hance Mcpherson, Star Pubs & Bars recruitment manager, said, “Joint investment is one of the major attractions of the leased model for many licensees. By the last quarter of 2018, our plans were finalised for investment in the former Punch sites we acquired in March which attracted high levels of interest.
“These latest recruitment figures are especially encouraging given concerns about the economy. Since March, we have held 25 open days and the feedback we got at them was that licensees are prepared to take on new businesses in spite of the economic climate.
'They know and like the fact that Heineken is committed to investment in its pubs and supporting them in the long term. The momentum shows no signs of slowing down with the same levels of interest continuing into the first half of January.'
Mcpherson concluded, “The restructuring of our operations in 2018 with smaller areas for the support teams to oversee, allows BDMs to really get to know licensee’s postcodes and share their knowledge as well as the broader market insight and category management that the our larger scale provides.”