Amsterdam-based beer producer Heineken raises investment in UK pub estate

Dutch beer giant Heineken is ramping up its investment in the company’s UK pub estate after announcing a further £44m injection today.

In its largest ever annual investment into the firm’s leased pub business, Heineken is hoping it can boost its role within local economies as it aims to put the added funds into 500 pubs across the country.

Read more: Heineken sales are up but its margins are facing a squeeze

The financial efforts to strengthen Heineken’s outreach have more than doubled on the previous year, when annual investment stood at £20m.

The beer producer, which will be funding hundreds of chain Star Pubs & Bars, said roughly 1,000 new jobs will be created.

Read more: British beer sales declined in the first quarter

The news will be welcomed by those in the industry, after troubling figures from last month showed that beer sales in the UK had dropped to their lowest level in two years.

David Forde, the UK managing director of Heineken, said: “We are passionate supporters of the Great British Pub and believe that well-invested pubs run by skilled and motivated operators will continue to prosper.”