A Change in Career

Running a pub can be great fun and very rewarding for you and your family, as you'll know if you run a pub already.

It can mean a completely new life with stacks of benefits, but it is a very serious step to take. You'll need business skills to handle issues from VAT and tax, to preparing a business plan and working out how you can make a profit.

You'll Also Need:

  • management skills, because you'll be in charge of staff and will want to get the best out of them;
  • commitment - the hours are long and the work is hard;
  • people skills - your customers will be your greatest asset and you need to look after them, even the awkward ones;
  • skills in being a good neighbour by running a friendly pub that's a welcome and popular part of the community - pub operators have important social responsibilities;
  • a personal licence to sell alcohol. You do not have to be actually running a pub to be able to get this licence. We recommend that if you are serious about running a pub, you apply for this licence now. Details on how to do this and places where you can get help are in our guide.

Put all these skills together, find the right pub and your life could be transformed. And that's where we can help. We have huge experience in the pub trade and we've listened to the people who run pubs with us to find what they think is the best way to help our customers.

At Marston's Pub Company we operate 'leased and tenanted' pubs. This is only one of four main ways by which you can enter the trade.

Find out about the different ways to enter the trade