UK pubs reopening: what’s next for the industry?
When asked if the demand has offset reopening costs, the specialist divided the response into managed versus leased and tenanted pubs. For the latter category, “they also need to be able to place a beer order, and a lot of the leasing tenants, they haven’t actually got any cash following a long time of not actually trading. A lot of pubcos have been having to give credit in order for them to order beer for the first week.”
Some of the key reopening costs have included staffing and table service, as well as fixtures for outdoor service such as heaters and covered areas. “All of that, for the managed companies, it’s an investment, but not as much and not as painful as the leased and tenanted operators.”
Moving on to the topic of cash burn, the senior executive relayed some “horrible figures” that companies had reported, but noted that these were also relative to their overall size. “The balance sheets of a lot of these companies are under severe pressure at the moment, it’ll be very interesting, in 1-2 years, to see how they come out of this.”
Other topics covered include the H2 outlook, consolidation and M&A opportunities, and how pubs will manage payroll costs in the light of Brexit and the National Living Wage increase.
To access all the human insights from Third Bridge Forum’s UK pubs – Q2 2021 trading & reopening update Interview, click here to view the full transcript.
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