Be your own bossRun a pub with Everards

Welcome to running pubs with Everards

We like to think we are different at Everards; we help you bring your pub vision to life, and enable you to run your own independent business with as much or as little support from us as you need.

We have a huge passion for the hospitality world in which we and our business owners operate. We support our business owners to be the best they can be and support their pub communities to ensure pubs sit at the heart of the towns, villages and cities they operate in.

Running your own independent pub business can be hugely rewarding – being the boss of your own successful business, being at the heart of your community and meeting new friends for life. It can be hard work and often involves long hours – but no two days are the same. It really is a lifestyle choice as well as a career.

You will become a pillar of the community, an employer of local people and everything from a charity fundraiser to a village counsellor, but it also requires the passion, vision and drive to create a successful business.

Why Everards?

We are an independent, family-run business with a rich heritage and a continued commitment to the future of brewing and pubs. In recent years we welcomed our 6th family Chairman, Julian Everard, and invested over £30m into our local economy with the opening of our home at Everards Meadows which includes a state-of-the-art brewery and a Beer Hall.

If you are looking to run your own pub, whether it’s your first ever pub or you’re a multiple operator, the Everards team can help! We know that running a pub is a huge lifestyle choice and won’t suit everyone. With over 170 years of experience, we’re pretty good at helping people work out if running a pub is right for them.

The majority of our business owners are on a 3-year landlord and tenant-protected tenancy agreement, but we know that talent is at the heart of running a business and can be flexible on our agreements if you have a vision we support and know you could deliver. We generally work towards converting to a tenancy agreement when you are ready, and we’ve supported many in creating a successful, profitable business.

We have business owners currently running Everards Pubs who have previously been hairdressers, electricians, supermarket workers and everything in between. There are so many transferrable skills, it’s not all about hospitality experience. It’s about a passion for people, and communities, and wanting to deliver the best experience for all that visit.

Great pubs

We have over 150 pubs across the Midlands and we continue to invest in them – in fact, in the past year, we have invested over £3 million in our estate. We offer a three-year tenancy agreement which is protected by the Landlord & Tenant Act – a really important piece of security for you and your business.

Freedom to run your business, your way

Our pubs are run as independent businesses, as we know, it’s great people that make great pubs and also that every pub is different with unique needs from its local community. So, it’s your vision and passion that create great experiences for customers and a successful business for you.

Support, tailored to you

We pride ourselves on building great relationships with all our business owners. A dedicated Business Relationship Manager will get to know you and provide guidance and support along your whole journey with Everards. With over 170 years of experience, we have lots of knowledge and best practices to share.

Access to a fantastic and exclusive beer range

We’ve been brewing since 1849 and have recently invested £6.5 million in our state-of-the-art brewery, alongside a small batch brewery. This not only gives you access to local favourites like our popular ‘Tiger’ ale but also to an innovative and exciting range of beers which aren’t available in anyone else’s pubs.

We know you'll have questions - we hope that's why you're here!

We cover lots of the queries you may have within our blogs and they are a great starting point on your journey. We go through the differences between freehold and leasehold, which agreement would be best for you, and how to work out the costs of running a pub.

We pride ourselves on being honest in our blogs so if we title a post 'What's it really like to run a pub?', expect a true reflection from a few of our own business owners who will tell you the good, the bad and the ugly so you can make informed decisions.

Read the blog here.

5 steps to running a pub with Everards

1. Let’s chat
2. Finding the right pub
3. Ask the experts
4. Business plan
5. Welcome to the family

Let’s chat

An informal chat about running a pub with Everards. A chance for us to get to know a bit more about you and your goals and a chance for you to ask us as many questions as you like – so fire away!

Finding the right pub

You may already have your ideal pub in mind or you might just want to look at the options. We are flexible with our agreements and are here to help you find the perfect match whether that’s a thriving city pub or a country local.

Ask the experts

We don’t ask you to fill out lengthy application forms or work to a tight timetable. At every stage of the process, we’re here to help. But don’t just take our word for it, why not visit some of our pubs or if you prefer to, let us make the introductions.

If you’re new to running a pub you can even ‘try before you buy’ and spend some time with experienced business owners in their pub.

Business plan

Once you think you’ve found the right pub, we’ll ask you to develop and share a business plan. Don’t worry, it’s not a test, just an important step to plan how you’d run your pub business to ensure it makes commercial sense for you and serves the wider community. Again, creating a business pan is a process we can support.

Welcome to the family

Before you go into the pub, you’ll join the Everards family and there will be an induction where you’ll meet people from across the business and we’ll give you access to the myEverards platform and the BII platform, where’s there’s loads of additional information to help you through the first few weeks and beyond. From your first contact and throughout your journey with us, we’re here to support your independent business.

Types of pubs Everards offer

We have a wide range of pubs, from city centre pubs to rural pubs and pubs in the centre of town or on the outskirts of villages.

Which pub is right for you? We’ll help you on the journey to finding the right pub for you. We often have people that think they want to live the rural pub life and actually after lots of discussion and some “try before you buy” experiences with us it turns out a small-town pub is a much better fit.

There is room to move around with Everards, we have many business owners that start out in smaller pubs and as their experience grows, they take on a larger pub with us or even an additional pub. Sometimes that happens in reverse as people take a lifestyle change.

We have lots of room to support you and your pub vision and help you to run your own pub business that suits you. You need to consider size of the pub, your experience, ingoing and outgoing costs as they vary hugely from pub to pub.

Also, your income will differ depending on the type of pub you have and the offer you put in. We will support you to create a business plan and work out what the financials are likely to be. Then our team can help guide and support you to develop the best offer for you and your community.

We are confident we will be able to match you perfectly with a pub that you will be very happy in.

With over 170 years of experience, we know we can help.

The Cheney Arms, Gadesby

• Spectacular countryside views
• Four luxurious letting rooms
• Fantastic commercial kitchen

Read more here

Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to run The Cheney Arms. Contact us today and make your dream of owning a historic, thriving pub a reality!

Interested? Get in touch with us here or call us on 0116 201 4260

Types of agreements

Ready to explore the different ways to run a pub business and how to choose the right one for you?

You typically have five options:

1. A tenancy
2. A leasehold
3. A freehold
4. A managed partnership
5. Pub manager

What’s the difference I hear you ask?

In a nutshell, a tenancy is where you rent short term, up to 5 years from a pub company/brewery and work in partnership. A lease is more of a long-term rent, usually 10 – 25 years, and a freehold is where you buy and own the building and business, giving you more freedom but also more responsibilities such as for building repair and maintenance. A managed partnership is a stepping stone to a tenancy, where the brewery/pub owner holds a lot more of the risk, offers increased support and then instead of your income being linked to the turnover you create, you get paid a salary. You get help and support until you feel confident with the business to take it on as a tenancy of your own. If you want the security of a regular salary, a Pub Manager may be a better option, however, you will lose the freedom to do as you wish with the building and the offer.

Tenancy agreement

A tenancy is a great way to get into the industry and is widely recognised as a cost-effective way into the pub world compared to alternatives such as purchasing a freehold.

Taking on a tenancy means you won’t own the pub, you’ll rent it from the pub owner, but you’ll run the business as your own. You will manage every aspect of the business from staff to the food and drink range, and everything in between.

Generally, there will be an agreed right to occupy the pub, this can range from 3-5 years depending on who you choose to work with. You will usually be able to roll the agreement for another 3-5years if you wish to do so.

Everards tenancy agreements are three years and are protected by the Landlord & Tenant Act which means that if you stick to the terms of your agreement, you can keep re-signing every three years, so the ball is in your court if you wish to stay or not unless you break the terms of the contract.

You will need to check your notice period should your situation change and you need to exit the business (these can vary from 6 months to the end of your remaining contract).

Rent is calculated in different ways depending on who you go with, you can check out how Everards charges rent to give you some guidance. To expel any concerns or myths, most pub companies want you and the pub to succeed, they will not unjustly increase rent, so it is important to ask everyone that you talk to, how they calculate rent.

As part of a tenancy agreement, some pub landlords will support with refurbishments and have ongoing schemes to refresh their buildings internally and externally every 5 years to keep the pub looking its best to support the business owner in offering the best trading experience for their customers. Check this is something the pub company you are talking to offers, if not make sure to include these extra costs in your business planning.

Tenancies are quite often ‘full tie’, this means that you have to buy all of your stock from the pub company directly. Everards won’t make you commit to this, instead, they have their own tie, which they call the ‘Everards supplier agreement’.

If you wanted to exit your tenancy at any point and leave the pub you are running, you’d have to work out a notice period and there may even be penalties for breaking the contract early if it’s before your contracted time comes to an end. You would not be able to sell any “goodwill”.

Leasehold agreement

A leasehold is usually a longer-term agreement, anything between 10-25 years. You commit to paying the landlord rent for this whole period, the rent rate will be reviewed every 3-5 years.

You can usually, if you wish, sell the business to a new owner after 2 years. With a lease you are allowed to sell the ‘goodwill’ in the business, which means if your business is successful, and you have built it up to this point you can sell it for a premium.

Leases tend to suit experienced business owners looking for long term commitment where they are awarded for their hard work when they choose to end their agreement if they have a successful business to hand over.

Leases generally mean you are responsible for ALL repairs and maintenance of the pub building including insurances, so you have more of the risk and costs then a tenancy agreement.

Freehold agreement

Owning a freehold pub business is much like owning a freehold home. You own the building and the land it sits on. You have no-one to answer to and the freedom to stock the drinks you wish on the bar, which means you can shop around and get the best deals with suppliers, and you also have the added benefit of having no rent to pay.

All this freedom, however, comes at a cost. You will need funds to purchase and maintain the building. However, you can raise a mortgage against the value of the freehold. You are also responsible for EVERYTHING; insurance, maintenance, staff, choosing your drinks range and building relationships with suppliers and you won’t have any support from the pub landlord or brewery.

Managed Partnership agreement

Managed partnerships enable you to develop your skills as an independent business owner. It is a perfect steppingstone as you will receive lots of support and development in partnership with the brewery and their other business owners.

Managed partnerships are a great opportunity for those new to the industry or who don’t have the funds to take on the fixtures and fittings and rent of a standard tenancy.

A managed pub partnership means you will have secured income, be it fixed pay or profit based, it offers lots of support, shared costs with the brewery and with you calling the shots for your business.

At Everards we offer tenancies and managed partnerships, so get in touch to chat through how it all works.

Pub Manager

Pub Management roles are employed positions, where you will be employed by the pub company / brewery you are working for. Pubs with a manger are often referred to as managed houses.

You will be responsible for all aspects of the day to day running of your pub. You will need to lead, encourage and motivate your team to achieve the best service for your customers.

The salary of a pub manager can be anything from £25k - £35k a year on average, however it's important to note that this varies depending on the location of the pub and the individual experience of the pub manager.

As a pub manager you will need to obtain a personal license that allows you to supply alcohol. Pub managers also are responsible for the safety and security of a pub.

Most pub managers have the option to live at or above the pub, which means you can save on living costs. You will work long, unsociable hours including weekends and holidays, however as a pub manager you will have control over the hours you work which is a bonus.

What’s best for you? There’s no right or wrong way, there’s many successful examples for each route above. The best way for you will come down to your experience, what you can afford, how much support you think you’ll need and what’s available in the area you want to operate in.

Get in touch with us here or call us on 0116 201 4260