The achievement comes just over four years after Greene King launched its first franchise concept, Hive Pubs, and almost two years after it opened its first Nest Pubs franchise.
Last year, Greene King Pub Partners opened 30 new franchise pubs, including in Scotland under the Belhaven brand for the first time.
Other key openings in 2025 included the Tarbet in Edinburgh, which became the first Greene King franchise pub in Scotland after a £285,000 refurbishment, the Dolphin in Melbourn, which reopened as a Hive Pub after a £570,000 investment, and the Two Poplars in Wokingham, which opened after a £450,000 transformation.
Ongoing growth
Following this momentum, the division is also expanding its footprint, with 30 new openings planned for 2025, including sites in Wales and the south west for the first time.
New franchise investments and openings already planned for the first quarter of 2026 include Millwrights in Aylesbury, the Freemasons Arms in Wigan and the Flag Inn in Egerton.
Greene King Pub Partners managing director Dan Robinson said: “We are delighted with the ongoing growth of our franchise business, which continues to complement our very successful leased and tenanted pub business.”
To support the expansion, Greene King Pub Partners has strengthened its team by hiring two new Business Development Managers (BDMs) alongside the internal promotion of a franchise BDM to operations manager, leading a team of five BDMs.
Magic number
The business is also actively looking to recruit experienced pub operators as it continues to grow its franchised concepts.
Greene King franchisees can run their own pub with a £3,000 ingoing cost, which covers agreement fees, induction, and on-site training.
Earnings are based on a percentage of food and drink sales, with additional opportunities for profit-sharing and performance-based bonuses.
Pub Partners franchise operations director Penelope added: “We are over the moon to have hit the magic number of 100 franchise pubs.
“We continue to see lots of interest in our pub franchise agreements from experienced pub managers looking to take the step up and run their own pub business and are actively seeking applicants to run the pubs in our pipeline.”
