Mark Draper is licensee of The Cambria pub in Camberwell that has benefitted from the Heineken scheme
(Picture: Heineken )Brewer Heineken is to spend £5.6 million upgrading pubs in London and the Home Counties as part of a larger £42 million UK-wide injection of cash.
Cash will go toward’s Heineken’s Star Pubs & Bars estate. The investment will create 700 new jobs across the year and will concentrate on providing quality food and drink, as well as creating and upgrading outdoor pub spaces which have become a key draw since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic as the UK “learns to live with Covid”.
Lawson Mountstevens, managing director of Star Pubs & Bars, said: “People have stayed closer to home over the last two years due to the pandemic and turned to their local for the kind of experience they’d previously have travelled to a city centre, restaurant or bar to find.
“Outdoor facilities also remain important for those who are still cautious about going out as the UK learns to live with Covid.”
The investment will include kitchen refits and new bars and will extend outdoor seating areas, making pubs more “sustainable”, according to Heineken. Lighting, artwork, heaters and covers will be added across the estate.
Heineken’s latest investment follows on from £4.8 million for London and the surrounding regions in 2021. One pub that benefitted is The Cambria in Camberwell, London, which has just reopened following a £600,000 refurbishment.
Minister for Investment Gerry Grimstone, said: “Following two years of economic disruption, it’s great to see Heineken supporting local jobs, boosting our economy whilst levelling up the UK.
“The firm’s £42m investment is a true testament to the resilience, innovation, and attractiveness of the UK’s food and drink industry.”
