Greene King reveal plans to create a further 2,200 jobs

Belhaven owners, Greene King, is to create a further 2,200 jobs on top of 800 apprenticeships already created as part of an expansion drive across its estate. The news came the same week that the company revealed it has put 37 pubs in Scotland up for sale. This will leave it with 260 outlets in Scotland. All of the pubs are part of the group’s tenanted and leased estate, and are spread along the east coast from Banff to the Borders. Greene King has said that it has put the pubs up for sale so that it can focus on “quality pubs and new developments in Scotland”. The sale is part of a rationalisation programme. A spokesman said, “The 37 licensees have been notified of the sales, which are being handled through agents at DM Hall, and Belhaven will be working with them during the transition. “The pubs have been put up for sale through DM Hall.
Meanwhile, Greene King, has just revealed a 5.6% lift in interim pre-tax profit to £77.2m, on sales up 9% to £527.5m, but operating profit margins at the company shrunk from 22.7% in in the same six months of 2010 to to 21.9% in the latest period. Its Belhaven brands, including Belhaven Best, Scotland’s leading ale brand, also continued to perform well with 7% volume growth. Its launch of Belhaven IPA into the Scottish market, has increased Belhaven cask ale growth by 400%.
Belhaven Chief Executive Euan Venters told DRAM, “ Another strong performance in a difficult market which yet again reflects our strong relationships with customers and the strength and commitment of the entire Belhaven team. We are committed to maintaining Belhaven’s position as “Scotland’s Best” and will continue to enhance our product offering and customer service levels to consolidate that position”.
Despite the sale of the Scottish pubs, Greene King revealed it plans to increase its managed pub estate over the next three years with a firm focus on pub eating after results revealed that food sales across the group increased 16% to October 16, with like-for-like sales up 4%.
Greene King chief executive Rooney Anand said in an interview, “People are going to pubs instead of restaurants and clubs. They are after an everyday indulgence, perhaps for about £10 or so. They are often looking for solace, and shelter from the economic storm.
“They come home and see on TV that the end of the world is apparently nigh. There is only much ‘staying in’ that you can do.”
The company also revealed that they had seen a 12% increase in Christmas bookings.
Concluding Anand said, “Falling consumer confidence and the weakening of the UK economic recovery suggest that we will face another tough trading environment in 2012. Despite this, there are still significant opportunities for growth, and we believe our strategy to grow our Retail estate and our share of the eating out market will help us to maintain our track record of strong earnings and dividends.”