Pub Tenant Lease - what do I need to know?

ADaffodil184

A little pub in my home town in being renovated and is up for tenancy at £500 per week.

I am really interested in going for it, as I have fond memories of the pub and plenty of bar/pub/restaurant experience.

My question is, how much would I realistically need to turn over, weekly, to make it work?

I have seen models suggesting £5k/week, for a wet-led pub. I'm not sure if this is realistic or not. The pub in recent years has fallen into disrepair and has been abandoned somewhat, so it would take a lot of hard work to get the locals back.

Am I being silly? Is pubbing not the way to go now?

Happy to hear any and all advice/opinions!

Comms69

I assume it's tied to a brewery?


The mark up on alcohol is very small, unless your agreement allows you to source your own spirits.


Does it have a kitchen? Given it's almost abandoned you can safely say the previous model wasn't working.


Will you live onsite - if that's possible.


Will you have staff (almost certainly)


Does the council have any schemes with business rate exemptions? With a predicted turnover of £250,000 there's rates to pay.


What wage are you looking to get?


What area is this, in terms of prices. £5k a week doesn't mean much, without context.


- Pubs can be very successful. Equally they can fail very quickly. It's really impossible to say, especially without knowing what your target market is, what competition there is locally, etc.

ADaffodil184

Thanks @Comms69.

I couldn't find details of the where the alcohol would come from - it is with Punch Taverns (not heard of them until I saw this so will need to read up).

It has a kitchen, though underused and a poor menu design recently - I am good in a kitchen so no fear there. The pub itself had also not kept up with other local pubs and stuck with beers and ales, I'm a dab hand at cocktails so would love to introduce them.

It has private accommodation upstairs, so I would live there.

I'm not sure on a realistic wage - obviously I'd like to rake it in but I know that is unlikely!

It'd be me, plus possibly one other initially lunch times/evenings Mon-Weds, plus kitchen hand and serving staff Thurs - Sun, so between 2 and four people. Happy to do the cleaning myself, plus could rope family in to help, too.

I don't live there at the moment, so will contact the Council and see what (if anything) they offer.

It's on the South-East coast, though inland so not going to get the seaside trade, but in a heavily populated residential setting, only a 15 minute walk from the beach.

The competition is far more in the town centre/beach front, so I would be relying on local residents/people on their way in to town. Though people locally do travel for a good meal/nice atmosphere..

Comms69

ADaffodil184 wrote: »

Thanks @Comms69.

I couldn't find details of the where the alcohol would come from - it is with Punch Taverns (not heard of them until I saw this so will need to read up).

It has a kitchen, though underused and a poor menu design recently - I am good in a kitchen so no fear there. The pub itself had also not kept up with other local pubs and stuck with beers and ales, I'm a dab hand at cocktails so would love to introduce them.

It has private accommodation upstairs, so I would live there.

I'm not sure on a realistic wage - obviously I'd like to rake it in but I know that is unlikely!

It'd be me, plus possibly one other initially lunch times/evenings Mon-Weds, plus kitchen hand and serving staff Thurs - Sun, so between 2 and four people. Happy to do the cleaning myself, plus could rope family in to help, too.

I don't live there at the moment, so will contact the Council and see what (if anything) they offer.

It's on the South-East coast, though inland so not going to get the seaside trade, but in a heavily populated residential setting, only a 15 minute walk from the beach.

The competition is far more in the town centre/beach front, so I would be relying on local residents/people on their way in to town. Though people locally do travel for a good meal/nice atmosphere..

It sounds like you're going to do too much on your own.


You need atleast 8 staff if you open 7 days a week and do food.


All your staff are entitled to 5.6 weeks holiday, pension etc.


Most bar staff don't expect full time hours and don't commit to them either (though obviously some do.)


a 12-11 (lunch time and evening) would typically be two shifts.
So you have atleast 14 shifts, some double manned.


Unless you are a cook, I would not put yourself in charge of the food. You need to be managing the front of house.


Also just a thought, but would you require security?

ADaffodil184

Thanks again!

I am used ti running a very busy bar/cafe, so not too concerned about doing the majority of the work.

I am qualified in the kitchen, though have to admit I prefer Front of House, I'm definitely more of a people person - it may be that I prep the kitchen in the mornings and get someone to come in and do service. It might just be snacks/sandwiches during weekday lunchtimes, so not too much pressure. Main meals probably Thurs-Sat evenings, and Sunday lunch.

It's really hard as I have been in there several times for lunch while visiting over the last couple of years, and been the only table in there, not even customers at the bar. I guess it's one of those things, do you over staff and cut back, or under staff and (hopefully) expand the team with the business?

No, no security, but a deposit, which I have from inheritance.

I would hope Punch Taverns would be able to advise, but given the state of the business previously, I don't imagine their support has been all that great..

JCS1

When I worked at the Insolvency Service we were having several pubs a week going bankrupt, most of them were tenants of the company you mention.


Go into it with eyes open, there is a lot that can go wrong.

System

ADaffodil184 wrote: »

I am good in a kitchen so no fear there.

Have you ever worked as a chef in a restaurant? If not I suggest you rethink that because banging out dozens of meals an hour doing 60/70hrs a week in a kitchen spending the mornings doing preparation then from an hour before lunch until 9pm cooking 20/30 or more meals an hour is a whole lot different to cooking at home for friends and family.

DCFC79

OP can the pub survive in the area ? Is there enough custom to have money going through the till ?

DCFC79

Tarambor wrote: »

Have you ever worked as a chef in a restaurant? If not I suggest you rethink that because banging out dozens of meals an hour doing 60/70hrs a week in a kitchen spending the mornings doing preparation then from an hour before lunch until 9pm cooking 20/30 or more meals an hour is a whole lot different to cooking at home for friends and family.

Hopefully the OP can clarify but they do say they are qualified in the kitchen so I assumed they had experience of a restaurants kitchen.

JCS1

There will be a lot of paperwork too, VAT, PAYE, alongside all the food safety, and bookwork for your accountant.

Comms69

JCS1 wrote: »

There will be a lot of paperwork too, VAT, PAYE, alongside all the food safety, and bookwork for your accountant.

Alcohol licence too I suspect