Almost 300 pubs closed permanently across Britain during the first nine months of 2026, with the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) forecasting the figure could reach 360 by the end of the year.
Against that backdrop, a steady stream of actors, musicians, sports stars and broadcasters continue to invest in the sector.
Some are seeking to protect their local. Others are building hospitality businesses, connecting pubs with existing drinks brands or using their profile to create destinations capable of drawing customers from much further afield.
So who has entered the trade and what can their experiences tell us about the enduring appeal of the British pub?
Daniel Craig: The Horseshoe
One of the newest names to enter the sector is former James Bond actor Daniel Craig, who became co-owner of the Horseshoe in Clerkenwell, London, this month.
Craig took on the site alongside Soho House founder Nick Jones, hospitality operator Charlie Carroll and creative director Justin O’Shea.
The venture is Craig’s first pub business, although his family has longstanding links with the trade.
Rather than reinventing the venue, the new owners have said they intend to preserve its traditional character, with Craig previously stating the aim was to keep it as “a boozer”.
James Blunt: From one pub to two
Singer James Blunt has gone a step further by expanding his pub interests.
Blunt and his wife Sofia restored the Fox & Pheasant in Chelsea after acquiring the site in 2017, preserving the pub rather than allowing it to become another residential development.
In July this year, Blunt acquired the Carpenter’s Arms in Hammersmith, giving him a second London pub.
The site is currently closed, with plans to rebuild its kitchen and create additional dining space before reopening in summer 2027.
His expansion is an example of celebrity pub ownership developing beyond a one off passion project.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac: Protecting the Turf
Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac added a pub to their growing interests in Wrexham in September when the owners of Wrexham AFC acquired the Turf beside the Racecourse Ground.
The historic pub is where Wrexham AFC was founded in 1864 and has featured prominently in the Welcome to Wrexham documentary series.
The acquisition also follows Reynolds and Mac becoming co-owners of Wrexham Lager Beer Co in October 2024 through Red Dragon Ventures, alongside the Roberts family.
At the time, the pair said the brewery’s heritage and connection to the town made it a natural fit with their wider investment in Wrexham.
The Turf acquisition extends an existing drinks and hospitality interest rather than representing a standalone pub venture.
The acquisition was described as a way of protecting the pub’s history and bringing the venue, stadium and football club under common ownership.
Jeremy Clarkson: Profile does not guarantee profit
Few celebrity pub ventures have attracted as much attention as Jeremy Clarkson’s Farmer’s Dog in Oxfordshire.
The broadcaster opened the Burford pub in August 2024, building on the audience generated by Clarkson’s Farm and his wider Hawkstone drinks business.
Yet Clarkson’s experience has also offered a very public demonstration of the challenges facing operators.
Earlier this year, he revealed the pub had made a pre tax loss of more than £8,000 during its first four months despite being fully booked.
High staffing, infrastructure and operating costs were among the pressures facing the business, showing that extraordinary customer demand does not necessarily translate into profitability.
Stuart Broad and Harry Gurney: Building a pubco
Former England cricketers Stuart Broad and Harry Gurney represent a different type of celebrity ownership.
The pair founded Cat & Wickets Pub Company in 2016 and have since built an estate of three sites comprising the Tap & Run in Upper Broughton, Griffin Inn in Swithland and Long Hop in Burton upon Trent.
Gurney now leads the business as managing director, while Broad remains involved as co founder.
Since Gurney retired from cricket in 2021, turnover at the company has grown from £1.2m to more than £6.5m, according to Cat & Wickets.
Their experience demonstrates how a venture initially associated with sporting fame can develop into a conventional multi site hospitality business.
Guy Ritchie: Combining pubs and beer
Film director Guy Ritchie is another longstanding entrant to the sector.
Ritchie opened Lore of the Land in Fitzrovia in 2019 after acquiring the former Lukin pub through a joint venture with Mitchells & Butlers.
The pub became closely connected to Ritchie’s Gritchie Brewing business, providing an outlet for beers produced using barley grown on his Wiltshire estate.
The model demonstrated another attraction of pub ownership for famous investors with wider food and drink interests, giving them both a hospitality business and a physical showcase for their own products.
Jodie Kidd: A publican and sector advocate
Model and TV presenter Jodie Kidd has operated the Half Moon in Kirdford, West Sussex, since reopening the village pub with business partners in 2017.
Unlike some celebrity investors, Kidd has become an increasingly vocal advocate for the wider trade.
She has repeatedly spoken about employment costs, business rates and the pressures facing pubs, describing running one as “amazing but so incredibly hard”.
Kidd highlights the same staffing, cost and operational challenges faced by publicans across the country.
James May: Saving the local
James May’s entry into pubs had a distinctly local motivation.
The former Top Gear presenter became co owner of the Royal Oak at Swallowcliffe in Wiltshire during the pandemic after becoming concerned his local could disappear.
May owns a significant share of the business but works alongside experienced landlord Chris Bryett, another example of celebrity ownership combined with dedicated operational management.
The pub itself says May does not regard the business primarily as an investment and takes no money from it, instead viewing his involvement partly as a means of preserving an important local asset.
Roger Daltrey: From brewing into pubs
The Who frontman Roger Daltrey entered the sector through a different route.
Daltrey established Lakedown Brewing with his family on his East Sussex estate, with the business later expanding into pubs under the Lakedown Pub Company.
Its first pub, the Eight Bells in Hawkhurst, Kent, was acquired in 2024.
At the time, the business said it hoped the acquisition would mark the beginning of a small estate across East Sussex and Kent, with individual pubs developed around their communities rather than adopting a single format.
Sir Ian McKellen: More than a decade behind the pub
Celebrity involvement in pubs is far from a new trend.
Sir Ian McKellen became one of the leaseholders of his local, the Grapes in east London, in 2012 alongside director Sean Mathias and Evgeny Lebedev.
The partners took on the historic riverside venue after its previous licensee decided to retire, with the aim of retaining its traditional character.
More than a decade later, McKellen remains a leaseholder and the Grapes continues to trade as a traditional pub overlooking the Thames.
Gary Neville: Investment through regeneration
Former footballer Gary Neville sits slightly outside the traditional celebrity publican model but demonstrates another way high profile investors are becoming involved with pubs.
Neville’s Relentless Developments submitted plans this year for a major refurbishment of Manchester’s historic Sir Ralph Abercromby pub as part of its wider St Michael’s development.
The proposals would retain and restore key elements of the pub while connecting it to the neighbouring hotel and residential development.
Rather than taking on an individual pub as a landlord, the project places the venue at the heart of a much larger property investment.
Why pubs?
For all their differences, many of the ventures share a common thread.
Daniel Craig wants to retain the Horseshoe as a traditional boozer. James Blunt stepped in to preserve the Fox & Pheasant. Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac have explicitly linked their acquisition of the Turf to safeguarding its history, while James May became involved with the Royal Oak partly because he did not want to lose his local.
Celebrity involvement can bring obvious advantages. Famous owners generate publicity, provide access to capital and can turn pubs into destinations overnight.
But Clarkson’s experience at the Farmer’s Dog also demonstrates the limits of that advantage. Profile can fill seats, but it cannot remove employment costs, energy bills, business rates, maintenance or the operational complexity of running a pub.
Perhaps that is also part of the answer to why famous names continue to invest.
For many, the attraction appears to go beyond straightforward returns. At a time when hundreds of pubs are disappearing, ownership offers the chance to preserve a piece of British culture, create a physical connection with a community and, occasionally, build a serious hospitality business in the process.
