Greene King to rollout beerhouse concept
Greene King Pub Partners is to roll out a beerhouse concept called Local Hero aimed at boosting wet-led local pubs within its tenanted estate. The company has
trialled the concept at the Waggon & Horses in Brain-tree, Essex, where takings have risen from £2,500 a week to £7,500 a week.
The concept will be offered to pubs that have seen a slip in barrelage in recent years.
There is a focus on provenance and local sourcing at Local Hero, with licensees able to source microbrews directly within 20 miles to take up 50% of the cask-ale offer alongside Greene King ales. Licensees are offered a 25% discount on existing rent and receive a £100-a-barrel discount on Greene King cask products — but pay a 6% royalty on net turnover.
Pubs will have an EPoS system and are subject to quarterly quality audits.
Menus need to be signed off by Greene King to check they put a focus on locally-sourced items. The first pub even has a barter scheme in place where locals can swap vegetables for beer, to engender a strong relationship with the local community.
Head of Pub Partners Simon Longbottom said: "This is still a tenancy with a side agreement that overlays it. It's about promoting individuality, flair and local expertise." The first pub in Braintree saw a £30,000 refurbishment investment and now hosts Campaign for Real Ale meetings.
Greene King has a list of 700 microbrewers operating in the UK, enough to provide the vast majority of the estate a choice of at least 10 to source supply.
The company believes there may well be room for several Local Hero pubs in a number of markets. Greene King's second Local Hero pub is set to be in Royal Tunbridge Wells and let to local microbrewer Royal Tunbridge Wells Brewing Company; it's set a target of opening up to 50 Local Hero pubs.
MA opinion: Greene King joins free-of-tie trend on microbrews
Greene King is following Leicestershire brewer and retailer Everards, Enterprise Inns and Punch Taverns in looking to allow pubs a free-of-tie element on microbrewer products.
Everards has around 20 pubs let to microbrewers as part of its Project William scheme — and Enterprise is understood to have let more than a dozen pubs to microbrewers since it launched its free-of-tie agreement. The Greene King scheme provides licensees with more retail input from the company.
It offers greater sharing of upside between the company and licensees, while mitigating licensees' fixed costs. It's another example of innovation within the tenanted market as companies seek imaginative solutions to helping licensees improve their offer.
