The Datum Report

Occupation 1223 · Managers, directors and senior officials

Publicans and managers of licensed premises

Half of full-time publicans and managers of licensed premises in the UK earn more than £38,043 a year, and half earn less.

Publicans and managers of licensed premises organise, direct and co-ordinate the activities and resources of public houses (non-residential and residential) and bar and catering facilities at non-residential clubs.

How people enter it

No formal academic qualifications are required. Relevant experience is advantageous, and candidates must be over 18 years of age and complete the personal licence holders’ qualification. Larger chains offer accelerated promotion for holders of degrees or equivalent qualifications. Off and on-the-job training is provided. NVQs/SVQs relevant to licensed premises management are available at levels 2 to 4.

What the work involves

• arranges purchase of alcoholic and other beverages, bar snacks, cigarettes and other items and ensures that stocks are stored in proper conditions
• supervises bar, kitchen and cleaning staff and, if necessary, assists with the serving of drinks
• observes licensing laws and other statutory regulations and regulates behaviour of customers as necessary
• maintains financial records for the establishment determines financial, staffing, material and other short- and long-term needs

Also called

Landlady (public house) · Licensee · Manager (wine bar) · Publican

What it pays

How pay has changed

Median gross annual pay for publicans and managers of licensed premises, full-time employees, 2023 to 2025. Each point is that year's ASHE April snapshot as published — revisions are not backfilled into earlier years, and a year ONS withheld is a gap rather than a joined line.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Year-on-year change

The change from each year to the next, in per cent, computed from the figures in the chart above — so the two cannot disagree.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Pay by region

Median gross annual pay for full-time employees, ranked, against the UK figure. 2 of 11 regions are published: ONS withholds a cell where the survey sample cannot support it, and those are shown as gaps rather than dropped — an absent region is not a region without the work in it.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Period 2025. Table

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Common questions

Classified alongside this

Hotel and accommodation managers and proprietors · Leisure and sports managers and proprietors · Restaurant and catering establishment managers and proprietors · Travel agency managers and proprietors