What Hungry Horse does

Hungry Horse is a UK family-friendly pub restaurant chain operating more than 200 locations across England, Scotland, and Wales, with a customer base spanning families with children, sports viewers, and budget-conscious diners. The chain offers a full pub food menu (burgers, steaks, curries, fish and chips, pies, Sunday roasts, breakfast, and children's meals), a full bar programme (beers, wines, spirits, cocktails, mocktails), and event-led live sports broadcasting on big screens. A differentiating feature is the embedded Wacky Warehouse indoor soft-play area in select pubs, including slides, ball pits, craft tables, kids' party hosting, and Tots Club weekday mornings for under-5s, creating a combined food-and-entertainment destination.

The underlying technology consists of the Greene King mobile application and the GK Sport App, providing table booking, order-ahead, payment, loyalty rewards, and a sports pub-finder. There is no disclosed proprietary AI/ML stack; the digital layer is positioned as an ordering and engagement platform. The business operates a direct-to-consumer, transaction-based revenue model built on four streams: food sales, beverage sales, gift cards, and rotating daily deal promotions (Grill Mondays, Mix It Up Tuesdays, Curry Wednesday £8 with drink, Big Plate Thursday, Burger Friday BOGO at £1, Sizzler Saturday, plus Sunday Roast at £9.49 and Kids Eat for £1). Unit pricing is broadly value-oriented, with discounts non-stackable against Blue Light Card, Defence Discount, and AA offers, and the unit economics rely on high volume across the estate.

Hungry Horse is a trading brand of Greene King Brewing and Retailing Limited, which was taken private by Cyprium Investment Managers in 2019 for £2.7 billion and which supplies brewing, supply chain, technology platforms, and corporate support. Hungry Horse has no separately disclosed revenue or financials and operates as a value-focused brand alongside other Greene King estates (Greene King, Fayre & Square). Marketing is multi-channel — website pub-finder, email newsletter, Facebook/Instagram organic social, app push, sports event marketing, and daily-deal in-pub promotion — anchored by the company's 200+ location physical distribution.

Name

Hungry Horse

Legal name

Greene King Brewing and Retailing Limited

Website

https://hungryhorse.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Hungry Horse is a UK family-friendly pub restaurant chain with over 200 locations, offering value-priced pub food, full bar service, live sports viewing, and Wacky Warehouse soft-play areas under the Greene King / Cyprium ownership umbrella.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bury Saint Edmunds

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Food Sales: Revenue from serving pub food including burgers, steaks, curries, fish and chips, pies, Sunday roasts, and children's meals across all pub restaurant locations
2. Beverage Sales: Revenue from bar sales including beers, wines, spirits, cocktails, soft drinks, and specialty drinks like iced coffees and mocktails
3. Gift Cards: Sale of gift cards for use across Hungry Horse pub restaurants
4. Daily Deals and Promotions: Structured daily promotions including Grill Mondays, Mix It Up Tuesdays, Curry Wednesdays, Big Plate Thursdays, Burger Fridays, and Sizzler Saturdays driving incremental revenue through volume

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Hungry Horse operates a chain of over 200 family-friendly pub restaurants across the UK, serving hearty British pub food, a full bar selection, and providing live sports viewing on big screens alongside Wacky Warehouse indoor soft play areas for children at select locations. The brand is owned by Greene King Brewing and Retailing Limited and offers rotating daily deals, kids eat for £1 promotions, and Sunday roasts as core value propositions.

Product overview

Hungry Horse is a UK-wide chain of over 200 family-friendly pub restaurants owned by Greene King, offering a unified dining experience that combines hearty pub food, full bar service, live sports viewing, and family entertainment. The core product is the pub restaurant with in-house dining for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Key product modules include: the Main Menu (burgers, steaks, curries, fish & chips, pies, sharing platters), Wacky Warehouse soft play areas for children, Children's Menu with £1 kids deals, Breakfast Menu, Sunday Roast (£9.49), and a rotating Daily Deals program (Grill Monday through Sizzler Saturday). Additional services encompass a full Drinks Menu (beers, wines, cocktails, mocktails), live Sports Viewing on big screens, Beer Gardens with outdoor seating, the Greene King App for ordering/paying/booking, GK Sport App for sports pub finding, Gift Cards, and seasonal promotions like World Cup deals. The Wacky Warehouse branded soft play areas and daily deal structures are distinctive value propositions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hungry Horse Pub Restaurants Family-friendly pub restaurant chain offering hearty British pub food, drinks, live sports viewing, and family entertainment across 200+ UK locations.
• Wacky Warehouse Indoor Soft Play Indoor soft play areas for children at select Hungry Horse pubs, featuring slides, ball pits, craft tables, and kids' party hosting capabilities with Play Passes starting from 33p.
• Breakfast Menu Morning food offerings including Mega Breakfast, Waffles Your Way, and Beans on Toast served from opening until 11am.
• Sunday Roast

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 200 locations across the UK
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Greene KingcoreOthersGreene King Brewing and Retailing Limited is the parent company and owner of the Hungry Horse brand. Greene King provides the operational infrastructure, branding, technology platforms (including the Greene King App), supply chain, and corporate support for all Hungry Horse pub locations across the UK.
• Wacky WarehousecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWacky Warehouse is the nation's biggest soft play area provider, operating indoor play facilities within select Hungry Horse pub locations. The partnership enables family-friendly entertainment with slides, ball pits, and craft areas, while parents dine. Play Passes starting from 33p allow access to play facilities. Tots Club operates weekday mornings for under 5s.
• Macmillan Cancer SupportminorOthersFor every Impossible Nuggets, Impossible Burger, Chicken & Bacon Sub, Chicken Parmigiana, or The Ultimate Big Candymania sold, £0.30 plus VAT is donated to Macmillan Cancer Support, a registered charity in England and Wales, Scotland, and the Isle of Man.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Toby Carvery: UK family casual-dining chain specialising in Sunday roasts and carvery mains; closely competes with Hungry Horse's Sunday Roast (£9.49) and weekend family trade.
• Chef & Brewer: Greene King-owned premium pub restaurant brand with a heritage menu and family positioning; operates in the same UK estate and competes for similar family value-dining occasions.
• JD Wetherspoon: UK's largest pub chain with 800+ sites; competes directly with Hungry Horse for value-led family and casual dining occasions across the UK high street.
• Harvester: Sister brand under Greene King operating family-friendly restaurants with rotisserie focus; same parent, near-identical customer (families, value diners) and pricing architecture.
• Brewers Fayre: Greene King-owned family pub restaurant chain focused on value meals and kids-eat-free deals; identical positioning to Hungry Horse in the same parent portfolio.
• Sizzling Pubs: UK value pub-restaurant brand offering £5–£10 meal deals and family-friendly dining; direct comparable on price-point, occasion, and target customer.
• Beefeater: UK family steakhouse-grill chain with mid-market pricing; comparable on family casual dining, kids menus, and nationwide coverage against Hungry Horse's grill-led daily deals.
• Stonehouse Pizza & Carvery: Greene King-owned family pub restaurant chain combining pizza and carvery at value price points; near-identical format and customer base to Hungry Horse.

Broad incumbents

• Marston's: Major UK pub operator and brewer with 1,400+ sites across multiple value and family pub formats; broader portfolio but overlapping value family-dining proposition.
• Nando's: Major UK casual-dining chain with strong family appeal and consistent nationwide footprint; competes for family value occasions though differentiated on cuisine (peri-peri chicken).

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/Hungry_Horse
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCnqideaWRneMX2m7CfL5FQA
• Facebookfacebook.com/hungryhorsepubs
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/greene-king
• Instagraminstagram.com/hungryhorsepubs

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hungry Horse