Speaking to The Morning Advertiser (MA) during a video interview at the recently reopened Hoop & Grapes in Farringdon, Neame said the return of office workers and strong city centre trading were driving renewed confidence in London pubs.
Join our new WhatsApp channel: The Morning Round-Up
Get the biggest pub trade stories straight to your phone. Listen to our one-minute daily news briefing and receive breaking news, exclusives and sector updates throughout the day....just remember to turn notifications on in top right corner!
Join the channel here .
“More and more people are coming back to the offices and London itself is performing very well in terms of our pub business,” he said. “London pubs are cool again and generally they’re doing very, very well.”
The Grade II listed Hoop & Grapes, which dates back to 1721, reopened last month following a £1.8m refurbishment after being closed for several years during redevelopment work in the surrounding area.
No expense spared
Neame said the investment reflected the brewer’s wider strategy to upgrade its London estate.
“The last two or three years we’ve been focusing a lot of our capital investment into upgrading our London pubs,” he said.
“We see real potential in having great authentic pubs done to a high standard, no expense spared in terms of fixtures, fittings and the quality of the design.”
The building now offers multiple trading spaces across three floors, including a ground floor bar, terrace bar and an upper floor events space.
Different environments
Neame said creating different environments within the pub was key to making the most of the site.
“We try to create different environments on each floor,” he said. “You want the feel of a town party house where people can go to any floor and find something different going on.”
Despite ongoing cost pressures across the sector, Neame said the company continues to take a long term view on investment and believes well located pubs can still perform strongly.
“There are great pressures in the market,” he said. “But we’re taking a long term position and focusing on creating comfortable environments where people want to spend time with friends and family.”
