STAR Pubs & Bars, the Heineken-owned pub company, has announced that it will continue to reduce rent for its 240 Scottish pubs until the end of August.
The pubco cut rent across its estate at the beginning of the government-ordered shutdown, with rent reduced by between 50% and 90% on a pub-by-pub basis and payments deferred until pubs are allowed to reopen.
The extension will mean those pubs will continue to receive that same reduction through July and August.
Star Pubs & Bars said the measure represents a £2 million investment in its Scottish estate since the beginning of the lockdown.
Lawson Mountstevens, managing director of Star Pubs & Bars, said: “Our business is built on strong partnerships with licensees, and we want to do everything we can to help make sure that their pubs are sustainable long-term. The cancellation of more than 50% of rent in Scotland has been central to our support. We hope that the extension of rent concessions provides a degree of certainty to pubs, as we turn our collective focus on the complex task of reopening.”
Mountstevens added that the company is now working with lessees to help them introduce “enhanced health and safety measures” ahead of reopening.
