It appears that the challenging times of recent months are not putting people off wanting to run a pub, as Greene King recently announced a record number of tenant and lease applications across June and August*. 

What challenges does a new post-lockdown pub landlord face?

One of the challenges is certainly ensuring the great British pub experience is as good as before. Startle’s research into the post-lockdown pub atmosphere has revealed that 45.8% of frequent pre-lockdown pub goers say the atmosphere would be made better now with music. A statistic that is consistent across July (46.2%) & August (45.5%), see graph 1.

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Also, nearly 3 quarters of those who think music can make the post-lockdown pub atmosphere better are frequent customers, a statistic consistent across July (72%) and August (71.6%), see graph 2.

While over a third of those who don’t think music would make the current pub atmosphere better are aged 55 and over (37.1%).

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Thoughts from our CEO, Adam Castleton:

"Music is critical for creating a great atmosphere, and customers are in tune with this (especially those under the age of 55). It's going to be a choppy winter for the country, and people will need their pubs more than ever before. Operators should consider how they're using music to put their customers at ease and show them that the pub is still a place they can have a good time."

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Surveys carried out July 2020. Sample size (n) >1000 people, UK Nat. Rep. with 95% confidence level & margin of error of +/- 5%.

*Morning Advertiser article: Greene King sees record number of new T & L applications. 4th September 2020.