- Nearly 60% of pub owners had less than a 10% deposit for their purchase. Over half of buyers had the pub for over a year, while one buyer had their pub for over 5 years. The majority (62.5%) plan to use an agent to sell their pub. - While 10% of respondents still want to buy a pub, most decided not to purchase a business. The average deposit for buyers is 36-40% and 73.7% of buyers are male. The most common ages are 45-54 and 55-64. - Pubs for sale are located all over the UK, with the highest number in Wales (22.4%). Asking prices most commonly ranged from £

1. 1 | BusinessesForSale.com Pub Buyer Survey 2019
Pub Buyer Survey 2019
Over the course of January 2019 we
surveyed our database of 5,545 pub
buyers to find out more about their
pub buying journey.
25.3%
74.7%
have bought
a pub
haven’t bought
a pub
Our survey said…

2. 2 | BusinessesForSale.com Pub Buyer Survey 2019
Almost 60% of pub owners had less
than 10% deposit
37.3% of pub owners were
cash buyers
2/3 of pub owners bought a
freehold pub
62.5%37.5%Freehold
Leasehold
< 10%
25-30% 28.6%
14.3%> 51%
11-24%
31-50%
57.1%
0% 100%
0%
0%
< 10%
21-50%
12.5%
12.5%
37.5%
> 51%
Cash
buyer
37.5%
11-15%
16-20%
0% 50%
0%
0%
50% of respondents had been running
the pub for more than a year.
1 buyer had been running the pub
they bought for more than 5 years.
Respondents Who Bought a Pub
Part 1

3. 3 | BusinessesForSale.com Pub Buyer Survey 2019
Agent Recognition
62.5% of owners said they
would use an agent when
selling their pub
Yes
62.5%
No
37.5%
Yes
75%
No
25%
Yes
75%
No
25%
Yes
62.5%
No
37.5%
Buyers bought through the following agents:
McCoys
We asked people if they'd consider
selling their pub via other means.
Majority said they weren't sure.
BusinessesForSale.com, Daltons,
RightBiz and Enterprise Inns were all
mentioned. A couple of respondents
said they would sell privately or through
their network.

4. 4 | BusinessesForSale.com Pub Buyer Survey 2019
Agent Recognition
YES 62% no 38%
Respondents Who Didn’t Buy a Pub
Of those that didn’t buy a pub and didn’t find another business to buy…
Still want to buy
a pub
Not interested in
pubs, still want
to buy a business
Decided not to
buy a business
10% of buyers still want to
buy a pub
Yes
77.4%
No
22.6%
Yes
57.1%
No
42.9%
Yes
62%
No
38%
18%
10% 72%
A third of buyers want to buy
the pub outright
Freehold
Either
Leasehold
47.5%
17.5%
35%
Only 7.5% of buyers went on to buy another business. 50% of these were
in the hospitality sector, the rest a combination of property and retail.
Part 2

5. 5 | BusinessesForSale.com Pub Buyer Survey 2019
Most buyers have a substantial deposit in place
The average buyer has a 36-40%
deposit. 35% of buyers have
more than 51% deposit and 5%
don’t have any deposit at all.
35%
< 10%
11 - 15%
16 - 20%
21 - 25%
26 - 30%
31 - 35%
36 - 40%
41 - 45%
46 - 50%
51% >
No
deposit
7.5%
2.5%
15%
15%
7.5%
5%
7.5%
5%
0% 50%

6. 6 | BusinessesForSale.com Pub Buyer Survey 2019
Male
73.7%
Female
26.3%
Gender
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
Age
8.5%
18.6%
27.1%
11.9%
33.9%
0% 50%
Buyer Demographics
Part 3
Current Occupation Status
Owner not
operator
Owner
operator
C-level/
director
Manager
Other
UE
0% 50%
8.47%
22.03%
6.78%
18.64%
40.68%
3.39%
Current salary / earnings
0% 50%
< £15K
£15 - 30K
£30 - 50K
£50 - 75K
£75 - 100K
£100 - 150K
£150K >
UD
5.1%
23.7%
13.6%
13.6%
1.7%
6.8%
5.1%
30.4%

7. 7 | BusinessesForSale.com Pub Buyer Survey 2019
Buyers are interested in pubs for sale all over the country. The following data
relates to freehold pubs we’ve advertised on the site in the past 5 years with a
disclosed asking price.
Location
East Anglia
Midlands
North East
North West
South East
South West
Scotland
Wales
0% 50%
6.5%
11%
9.8%
13.7%
12%
11.8%
12.8%
22.4%
Asking Price
> £100K
£100 - 249K
£250 - 499K
£500 - 749K
£750 - 1M
£1 - 2M
0%
21%
4%
13%
5%
47%
10%
Pub Buyer Activity on BusinessesForSale.com
Part 4
50%

8. 8 | BusinessesForSale.com Pub Buyer Survey 2019
BusinessesForSale.com is the world’s largest website for
connecting business buyers and sellers.
Established in 1995, we have spent more than 20 years
developing our range of services exclusively for the
broker community.
We work with more than 2,200 intermediaries in over 130
countries to find local, national and international buyers.
We’ll help you sell more businesses.
© 2019 Dynamis Ltd
Information correct at time of publication - April 2019
Contact Our Sales Team
+44 (0) 207 324 1930
sales@dynamis.co.uk