Owning a Pub with Us: The Batemans Difference

A great pub starts with a great partnership, and that’s exactly what Batemans aims to offer. Owning a business can sound like a leap: it’s the kind of career quickly dismissed by some as “too risky”, but it doesn’t have to feel that way.

With the right team behind you, running a pub becomes something exciting, rewarding and surprisingly achievable.

At Batemans, we’ve always believed that people do their best work when they feel supported, and for that reason stability sits at the heart of everything we do. Anyone familiar with our history will also know that we’re not afraid to make bold decisions when it matters most – and that’s why, over eighteen years ago, we made one of our biggest calls ever.

Back in 2008, we scrapped rent reviews. Yes, scrapped them. No sudden increases. No unexpected letters through the door. No feeling like success might be followed by a rug-pull.

“IN AN INDUSTRY FIRST, LINCOLNSHIRE BREWER AND RETAILER BATEMANS IS OFFERING TO SCRAP RENT REVIEWS FOR EXISTING AND NEW TENANTS IN AN ATTEMPT TO REMOVE TENANTS’ FEAR THAT THEY WILL BE “PUNISHED” FOR TRADING SUCCESS.” (MORNINGADVERTISER.CO.UK)

We wanted our pub business owners to feel confident enough to put their energy into the business, not into worrying about what might happen next. Owning a pub business should feel exciting. It should feel like an opportunity. And with Batemans, it genuinely can.

The Batemans Difference: A Brewery That Actually Cares

If you’ve never looked into pub business ownership before, you might be wondering what rent reviews even are. In many partnerships, rent can be reassessed (and more often than not increased) based on how well the business is doing. It’s a system that can leave people feeling like there’s always someone else stirring the pot… even when they’re the ones running the kitchen!

That’s exactly where Batemans chose to be different. For nearly two decades, we’ve focused on giving the business owners whom we work with room to breathe, plan and grow. No sudden rent changes, just a fair, steady foundation that lets you build something you’re proud of.

​Batemans offer tenants automatically renewable agreements, giving our pub business owners the confidence to plan for the future. Unlike some operators, we do not bring tenancies to an end simply to use a pub in a different way, and when agreements are renewed, the rent remains unchanged.

As a family business, fairness isn’t just a policy to us, it’s part of who we are. We want every member of our team to thrive, and that includes the people who run our pubs.

When you succeed, your community succeeds, and we believe that should be your achievement to celebrate, not ours to claim. It’s quite simply better for everyone – for our business owners, for their communities, and for us – when pub business ownership is built upon a fair foundation from the very start.

The Myths About Owning a Pub

Horror stories abound on social media about pub ownership: that the moment you start doing well in a pub, the brewery will just hike up the rent. Stories like these can leave prospective operators wondering whether their success might be used against them, or whether they’ll always be treated fairly. However, we’d like to say emphatically that unequal business relationships like this are simply not the Batemans way.

Owning a pub isn’t risky when the brewery behind you actually supports you. Rent doesn’t have to be a burden either: in fact, it can be the very thing that gives you your own space straight away, without needing years of saving to buy a property outright.

When the partnership is fair, rent becomes part of the foundation, not the fear. And working with us means you’re never doing it alone. From the moment we start talking about your business, you have real people in your corner, people who genuinely want you to thrive. We offer:

• Expert training
• Practical marketing tools
• Legal advice and support
• Subsidised purchasing
• A team who cares

Real success comes from partnership, and at Batemans, that’s something we’ve understood from day one.

Why Now Is the Time

If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably already picturing what life could look like with a pub of your own… so what’s stopping you?

Owning a pub business is a viable, rewarding and fulfilling career path, and we’d love you to explore it with us. Take a look at the opportunities we have open, see which spaces spark your imagination, and imagine the community you could build within those walls. There are some brilliant pubs waiting for the right person to bring them to life.

And remember, you’re not doing this alone. Batemans is here to help you shape something meaningful: a business you can be proud of, backed by people who genuinely want you to succeed.

When the partnership is right, the possibilities are wide open.