Pub giant has pledged to give away up to 100,000 pints at the first sign of April showers - but there's a catch.
The firm is making the free drinks offer as a way of encouraging Brits to support their this spring – come wind, rain or shine.
It comes as the urges people to back the industry after a wave of closures. We are calling on the government to set-up a fighting fund for struggling pubs, recognition of pubs and publicans going the extra mile, and for extra help for communities to save their at-risk boozer.
Greene King has installed detectors in six pub gardens, in , Glasgow, Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol and Wallingford in Oxfordshire. If they spot rain then it triggers a nationwide promotion where punters can go into any of its around 1,300 managed pubs and get a drink on the house, if they say, “It’s raining, can I have a free pint?”
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The offer only runs for seven days, from April 3 to 10, applies for 48 hours after each time it rains, and is limited to one free drink per customer a day. Drinkers can keep an eye on Greene King’s website, or pages to see when the free drinks deal has been triggered.
The company has recruited Gavin & Stacey star Larry Lamb as a ‘pub garden presenter’ to plug the initiative. He said: “The pub garden is a like a sanctuary away from the chaos of every day; it’s somewhere to sit, to chat, to meet others and to simply enjoy being outside.
"In spring, it can be really fabulous as the crocuses and daffodils start blooming and people start to dust of their jazzy summer wardrobe…only for the rain to come down and remind us that it’s only spring. Being back in the pub has been magic and I’m relishing the role of helping others out in navigating the unpredicatable spring weather to still enjoy a pint in a pub garden."
Zoe Bowley, managing director at Greene King pubs, said: “Pub gardens have always been the heart of British social life, places where friends gather, stories are shared, and good times flow as freely as the pints.”
Research by the firm found that nearly a third (31%) of Brits dash inside from the beer garden at the first sign of bad weather and one in five (18%) admit to wearing sunglasses and their winter coats at the same time to ensure they’re prepared for all weather conditions during the spring.
Pubs will be hoping the arrival of spring, and better weather, will give takings a boost after what for most is their quietest time of the year. Independent boozers in particular are facing an extra challenge from an increase in employers’ national insurance and the minimum wage from April 1, while business rate relief for smaller hospitality firms will be drastically reduced.
Some pubs are doing better than others, however. Greene King, which was founded in the historic Suffolk market town of Bury St Edmunds in 1799 but sold to Hong Kong’s richest family in 2019 for £2.7billion, made group wide profits of £167million in 2023. Of that, £132million was from its pubs. It also retains a brewing arm.
New figures from professional services giant PwC found pub chains closed a net - taking into account any openings - 561 sites last year, equivalent to almost 11 every week. However, its report showed about half of these were reopened as independents or by smaller chains.
