Greene King: Brewery giant to sell 150 pubs and close another 20 under major plans
Greene King, the UK’s second-largest pub group, plans to sell up to 150 of its managed sites and convert another 150 into tenanted pubs.
This major change in their assets comes amid rising costs and a more challenging trading environment.
The group is splitting around 300 bars into a new business division, about half of which is dedicated to sales.
Around 20 of the 1,500 pubs it manages are also set to close, but the company said this was in line with typical annual changes. Affected staff will be offered jobs elsewhere in the business.
Greene King stated that the revision was a response to the changing consumer and business environment. The pub industry is facing major cost pressures from rising wage bills, rising business rates and a challenging consumer spending environment.
While the government announced a temporary support package for pubs to offset increases in business rates, the industry argued it did not go far enough.
Nick Mackenzie, CEO of Greene King, said: “As consumer habits continue to evolve and the workplace remains dynamic, we are confident that our new bar space strategy will position us to deliver sustainable profitable growth over the long term.”
The firm plans to reinvest a “significant” amount of cash from the sale of managed pubs into its remaining core property.
He said: “Meanwhile, the separate business unit will enable Greene King to manage the facilities with a simplified model and a renewed focus on maximizing financial returns.”
Greene King has around 2,500 bars in total, 1,000 of which are rented, tenanted or franchised.
At the beginning of the year, Rachel Reeves offered pubs a 15 per cent discount on their business bills.
The support, which the Treasury says is worth £1,650 for the average pub next year, comes after warnings in the Chancellor’s Budget that a decision to end rates relief introduced during the Covid pandemic would lead to mass closures and job losses.
Channelor has faced backlash from Labor MPs, pub landlords and business owners over the “wholly inadequate” cut to business rates bills.
