Heineken plans to invest £44.5m ($60.3m) this year to refurbish 647 pubs across its 2,350-Star Pubs network across the UK.

The programme includes major overhauls at 108 sites, each with investment of at least £145,000.

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The investment is expected to support the creation of about 850 jobs.

Of the pubs earmarked for upgrades, 536 are run by self-employed licensees who lease their premises from Star Pubs and manage them as independent businesses.

The remaining 111 are operator-managed outlets that are not consumer-branded and are often used by new entrants to the pub trade.

In a statement, Star Pubs said Heineken has injected committed £328m to its local pub portfolio since 2018. Work is already under way at 52 venues this year, which the company described as its quickest start to a year since 2020.

Eight of those sites involve bringing boarded-up pubs back into use, including one location that has been closed for seven years.

The latest round of refurbishments will concentrate on positioning pubs as multi-purpose community hubs, with separate zones for drinking, eating and watching sport or other entertainment.

In line with renewed interest in darts, the company plans to introduce halo-lit dartboards and pilot electronic scoring systems with video links so pubs can play live against other venues internationally.

The rollout of Sky Q will be extended, enabling sports-focused pubs to show more events simultaneously on different screens.

Additional 80inch screens are to be installed, and a further 100 pubs are scheduled to receive outdoor screens ahead of the World Cup.

To target younger adults, Heineken will also test a new, contemporary pub format.

Under this model, pubs will offer coffee and workspace-style areas during the day, then switch to DJs, open-mic nights, live music and “competitive socialising” in the evening, including activities such as shuffleboard and giant board games.

Interiors in these trial venues will feature a more stripped-back aesthetic, with exposed brick, timber flooring and extensive greenery.

Star Pubs managing director Lawson Mountstevens said: “Pubs are a fantastic institution, admired the world over.

“We’re proud to be a leading investor in Britain’s independently operated locals and to be playing a part in securing their future along with our dedicated and entrepreneurial licensees.

“Investment is essential if pubs are to remain a first choice for people looking for somewhere to socialise. It is also critical for pubs needing to generate extra revenue to fund the sustained increases in running costs they’ve faced in recent years.

“We are calling on the Government to support us in bringing out the best in the Great British pub.” The latest investment is 10% higher than Heineken’s 2025 spend.

In May last year, Heineken announced a £40m investment in its Star Pubs division to revive more than 600 community pubs.