Greene King pubs: Plans to sell 150 pubs and close 20 under estate shake-up

One of Britain’s biggest pub companies is considering selling 150 establishments and closing a further 20 in a shake up of its estate. Greene King is carrying out the overhaul in the face of soaring costs and tougher trading.

The major brewery and the country’s second biggest pub group – is hiving off about 300 managed pubs into a new business division ahead of the proposed changes, with about half earmarked for sale. The firm has said the additional 20 closures were line with usual annual changes

Greene King, who manages a 1,500-strong estate, said the overhaul was being carried out in response to a changing consumer and trading environment. The sector is under immense cost pressures from rising wage bills, increasing business rates and a difficult consumer spending backdrop.

In her budget last year, Chancellor Rachel Reeves slashed a discount on business rates for pubs introduced during the pandemic. Following anger from landlords, a £300 million “lifeline” for pubs was announced in January in a bid to ease concerns.

However the industry argues the Government’s temporary support for pubs does not go far enough.

Nick Mackenzie, chief executive of Greene King, said: “We are confident that our new pub estate strategy will set us up to deliver sustainable profitable growth for the long term as consumer habits continue to evolve and the operating environment remains dynamic.”

The firm plans to reinvest a “substantial” amount of cash raised from the sale of managed pubs into its remaining core estate. It said: “In the meantime, the separate business unit will allow Greene King to run the sites on a simplified model, with a renewed focus on maximising financial returns.”

Greene King has around 2,500 pubs in total, including 1,000 that are leased, tenanted and under franchise. It has said it will look to offer staff impacted by the restructure, jobs elsewhere in the business.