Greene King Pub Partners invests £940,000 in new Hive Pub

Greene King Pub Partners, the leased, tenanted and franchise division of Greene King, has invested £940,000 in its latest Hive Pub.

The Victoria in Thurston, Suffolk reopened on Thursday 8th December following Greene King Pub Partners’ transformational investment.

It is the biggest investment Greene King has made yet in one of its Hive Pubs sites.

The pub will be operated by David and Natasha Riggs, who both left their positions as experienced Pub Managers at Wetherspoons to become Hive Pubs franchisees.

As part of its transformation to a Hive Pub, The Victoria has been completely transformed inside and out in line with the Hive Pubs look and feel. It has also had an extension added to it.

The large garden at the pub has been significantly upgraded with beach huts as seen in several other Hive Pubs, along with covered outdoor seating complete with beautiful wooden furniture to enable use of the garden all year round. Outside, the pub also has a bar and servery.

Inside, the pub has been overhauled with new lighting, furniture, decorations, flooring and more to create the modern look and feel of a Hive Pub. A dedicated sports area has been added to the pub with two dartboards and a contactless pool table.

As a Hive pub, The Victoria will have Sky Sports and BT Sport subscriptions to show all major sporting events. It will also provide a live entertainment programme for the local community to enjoy.

The Victoria will serve an extensive range of food and drink in line with the Hive Pubs branded concept, including a menu of pub classics curated by the food team at Greene King and paired with tasty deserts. It will also serve an extensive range of drinks from standard and premium lagers to ciders, stouts and ales, plus an extended range of spirits, wines, soft drinks and alcohol-free options. 

Aimed at those with experience of running a pub, the Hive Pubs franchise agreement gives licensees a ready to trade pub within a proven branded concept for just £5,000 ingoing cost. Franchisees get a minimum guaranteed income of £20,000 which is paid weekly. They also get a percentage of food and drink sales. In addition, they get a share of the profits in their pub and can earn a bonus on top of this. Hive Pubs recently won “Best New Concept” at the Foodservice Equipment Journal 2022 Awards.

David and Natasha Riggs, franchisees of The Victoria, said:

“Having managed successful pubs, we wanted to take the next step and run our own pub business. With the low in-going costs, combined with guaranteed income and full support of Greene King, going down the franchise route was the obvious way to make our dream a reality.”

Wayne Shurvinton, Managing Director for Greene King Pub Partners, said:

“We have invested £940,000 in The Victoria, which is by some distance our biggest transformation yet for a Hive Pub. It is really exciting to bring talent like David and Natasha on board as franchisees and give them the opportunity to run their own pub business.”