Journeys looking to help struggling pubs

An innovative hostelling company is hoping to transform the fortunes of struggling pubs around the UK.

Hi, I’m the CEO of a company called Journeys and I’m hoping we might be able to help a few of you out. Journeys are an innovative hostelling company and we’re looking to transform the fortunes of struggling pubs around the UK.

We’re the world’s first youth hostel franchising company and have already helped transform the fortunes of struggling pubs in both London and Brighton with sympathetic hostel conversions that have allowed the properties to keep both their bars and character, but brought them added revenue from bed takings and extra custom from those that sleep in them.

After several very successful conversions, we’re now on the hunt for Landlords who have UK properties in areas that attract tourism and who feel their pubs would benefit from conversion.

The properties that have been converted to date have shown just how successful the our hostel model can be. One of the first pub based Journeys sites, which has been running for two years, was created in a dilapidated pub and in just its second year of trading turned over £630k, yielding a profit of £221k. The creation of the hostel still allows the property to run as a pub and keep its own identity, but also offers a whole new means of revenue generation. Drinks revenue at the bar has also increased by nearly £100k a year with the new model.

We have now helped a lot of pubs turn their situations around and diversify the pressure from just drink sales, resulting in landlords working less hours for more money. We reckon that using our model and online booking system most pubs in the UK could pay the start up costs off in the first year of trading and then start to pocket the profit. The British pub is an iconic institution, and we are convinced that our model offers hard working landlords up and down the country a means of increasing profits, and in some cases survival.

If you’d like to learn a bit more about us, please visit our website or give one of us a call on 02072520046