Pub licences transfer to petrol stations, supermarkets PubTrade

The 2000 Act allowing regional pub licences to be transferred to urban locations has not caused a flood of new pub openings in the cities. Most of the transferred licences are actually making their way into supermarkets and petrol stations for off licence sales, according to specialists in licensed premise sales.

"My experience has been that most of the licences we have been selling are going to off licences and Aldi and Lidl for off purchases," says Mr John Young of Young Estate Agents, which specialises in licensed premises.

The Act has, however, had an impact on the value of licences, particularly those acquired from the regions. Says Mr Young: "The impact of the Act has been to increase the value of provincial licences." Rural licences, which at the time could only be retained in the locale, used to be available for €7,000 to €8,000, he said. "They are now selling at €145,000 to €150,000."

Conversely, Dublin licences used to reach the €450,000 range under the provisions of the old 1960 Act but the new Act has served to depress prices in Dublin to match those from the regions, he believes. "The licences in Dublin went down and the country licences went up. That reflects where availability exists," Mr Young added.

The free transfer of licences from rural locations to city locations became possible in July 2000, explains Mr John Ryan, assistant director in CB Richard Ellis Gunne's licensed premises department. Before then licences couldn't be moved any significant distance, but the Act opened this up.

"You then got a situation where the licences could adapt and go to where the people are," Mr Ryan said. "It takes a while for this to work through the planning. We are only just seeing pubs going into suburban growth areas."

He has also noted however that most licences have moved to cover off sales in supermarkets and petrol forecourts. "The actual movement of licences is not into pubs but actually selling to the supermarket business," Mr Ryan said.

Most of these are downgraded from on licence to off licence sales. "The retail market is generally flying," he suggests as a reason for this. The growth of the convenience store concept with grocery and alcohol sales from petrol stations and corner shops is driving this.

"These licences come from semi-dormant country pubs in quiet towns where they are over-pubbed," Mr Young believes. They are becoming available from right across the State and not just from one or two depressed regions. "What is interesting is that it reflects our modern lifestyle," he adds.

"Most supermarkets would now tend to have an off licence and garages are getting into this." Some of the regional licences are making their way into suburban areas.

"There are some new pubs going into suburban areas," Mr Ryan said, citing three new pubs in the Ongar Park development in Clonee. Another suburban pub is going into Charlesland in Greystones.

Mr Young is involved in a new 743 sq m (8,000 sq ft) pub going into the west Dublin suburb Tallaght, close to the Luas line terminus. It will be on three levels with a night club in the basement and lounges on first and mezzanine levels.

He also cited a new complex going into Littlepace in Clonee. The Keaney family, who own the Dead Man's Inn in Palmerstown, built a shopping centre there with an associated 1,579 sq m (17,000 sq ft) pub complex. It will be rented empty with the tenant left to do the fitting out.

Fears that the Act would encourage the spread of the infamous "super pub" or "mega pub" have also largely proved unfounded, Mr Ryan believes.

"Economics is the key to whether a pub will open or not. There hasn't been a huge proliferation of pubs and viability is the key to this," he said.

Such pubs could usually only be considered for suburban neighbourhoods, given tough competition from existing long-established pubs in the cities. A pub licence is no licence to print money either, given the high cost of fitting out a premises, he adds. "It is not for the faint hearted." He cites as an example the Arc in Liffey Valley, a big pub and expensive to fit out.

Existing pubs are also expensive to acquire, given the record €8.1 million needed to purchase the Playwright in Blackrock. Similarly, the Viva Café Bar in South William Street, Dublin went for about €5 million.

Mr Young also sees a move towards the more moderate sized pub, with a few exceptions such as the new pubs that went into former banking halls on Dublin's O'Connell Street. "There has been little impact from mega pubs. Most of the entities that have been opened have been smaller pubs in the city centre," he says. "The large emporiums have not been multiplying as much as people feared."

Even when large pubs do get planning for suburban areas, they tend to be designed with small manageable spaces, producing the impression of a much smaller and intimate space. Suburban pubs need more space in any case, Young argues.

Outlying pubs need to serve a much more varied market with a public bar, lounge bar with carvery, off licence and private rooms.

"Private function rooms are very important because they allow a focus for the community," Young says. "The pub is a unique animal in this country. The pub is a focal point for the community. You also have a very mobile clientele nowadays."