Heineken UK launches £3m sustainability energy fund for the on-trade

One of the UK’s biggest beer and pub brands has announced the launch of a £3m energy support scheme to help pubs make sustainable changes.

The initiative will see Heineken UK cover the cost of all qualifying venues’ first energy saving audit, as well as funding up to £5,000 towards the cost of any improvements needed.

The announcement comes after new legislation which was introduced in April this year requires commercial premises, including hospitality venues, to reach an EPC rating of C from April 2027 and B in April 2030. Venues are required to undertake an EPC audit every ten years.

Non-compliant outlets could receive a fine of up to £150,000.

The EPC audit outlines areas for improvement, estimated cost to improve, rating impact and payback time to move towards legislation compliance. The beer producer, which owns around 2,400 pubs and is headquartered in Edinburgh, is working in partnership with an independent energy consultancy to help advise its venues.

Will Rice, interim on-trade director at Heineken said with rising costs and the need to reduce energy consumption, the need to be more energy efficient “has never been more important”.

He added the fund “will help make those improvements and drive efficiencies”.