Hare & Hounds

What Hare & Hounds does

Hare & Hounds is a privately held pub and live-music venue operating from a Grade II listed building on High Street in the Kings Heath suburb of Birmingham, United Kingdom. The site has hosted a pub on the same location since 1820 and has been in its present physical form since 1907, including distinctive Art Nouveau tiles in the entry hall and staircase. Since 2007 the venue has operated as a dedicated music and entertainment platform, with two upstairs performance rooms (V1 and V2) hosting live music and club nights spanning jazz, indie, funk, reggae, hip hop, soul, house, techno, and drum & bass, alongside two downstairs bars that host weekly pub quizzes (Wednesday and Sunday), a Saturday Blues Club, and comedy workshops. The venue famously hosted UB40's first ever gig in 1979. There is no proprietary technology disclosed; the operating stack is a website, social media channels, the Skiddle ticketing platform, and Uber Eats for delivery.

The venue runs four core product lines: live music and club-night ticketed events, food and beverage service, private venue hire, and ancillary amenities such as cloakroom service. Food is operated in collaboration with The Plough from Harborne under the brand 'The Plough at Hare & Hounds,' offering meat, vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options daily until 9:30PM, Sunday roasts from 12PM-6PM, and Sunday brunch from 11AM. Takeaway is available in-house and delivery via Uber Eats; show ticket holders receive a 20% food discount on the day of the show. Private hire covers function rooms for parties, gigs, and club nights, with larger parties (15+) handled directly by the General Manager.

Hare & Hounds generates revenue through multiple consumer-facing streams: food and beverage sales (dine-in, takeaway, delivery), event ticket sales (online via Skiddle and at the door, cash and card), private hire bookings, and amenity fees (cloakroom GBP 2 per item). Pricing is pay-as-you-go unit pricing, with a GBP 3 per person pub quiz fee, a 20% food discount for show attendees, and bespoke pricing for private hires. The venue is managed under the Left Foot Venues umbrella, with dedicated leads for bookings, PR/marketing/accessibility, and general management, and operates with 11-50 employees.

Name

Hare & Hounds

Legal name

Hare & Hounds

Website

https://hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1820

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hare & Hounds is a Grade II listed pub and live-music venue in Kings Heath, Birmingham, hosting live music, club nights, pub quizzes, and comedy in two upstairs performance rooms and two downstairs bars, serving food via a partnership with The Plough at Harborne.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Live Music Venue & Pub

NAICS

Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (72241), Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (7224)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Pubs & Gastropubs (CRANACAB)

Keywords

• Live music venue
• Pub and bar services
• Private venue hire
• Event ticketing
• Food and beverage service

Headquarters

HQ city

Small Heath

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Food & Beverage Sales: The venue serves food daily until 9:30PM, with Sunday roasts from 12PM-6PM. They offer meat, vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. The kitchen is run in collaboration with The Plough from Harborne. Takeaway and Uber Eats delivery are available.
2. Event Tickets: Revenue from ticketed events including live music, club nights, and special performances. Tickets sold online via Skiddle and at the door (cash and card). Age restrictions vary by day.
3. Private Venue Hire: Function rooms available for private parties, club nights, and gigs. Bookings handled via email to [email protected]. Larger parties (15+) contact Jake Golec directly.
4. Amenity Fees: Cloakroom service charged at £2 per item. No parking at venue.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Hare & Hounds is a historic Grade II listed music venue and pub in Kings Heath, Birmingham, operating since 1820. The venue hosts live music, club nights, pub quizzes, comedy workshops, and a Blues Club residency across two upstairs performance spaces (V1 and V2), and runs a downstairs main bar. Food is served daily in collaboration with The Plough from Harborne, including Sunday roasts and brunch, with takeaway and delivery available via Uber Eats. The venue also offers private hire for parties, club nights, and gigs.

Product overview

Hare & Hounds is a Grade II listed pub and music venue in Kings Heath, Birmingham, established since 1820. The venue operates as a unified hospitality and entertainment offering with two main service pillars: (1) Food & Beverage Service - featuring a full kitchen operated in collaboration with The Plough (Harborne), offering daily food service, Sunday roasts, brunch, takeaway and delivery via Uber Eats; and (2) Live Events & Entertainment - including two upstairs music venues (V1 and V2) for live music and club nights, two weekly pub quizzes (Wednesday and Sunday), Saturday Blues Club, and comedy workshops. The venue also offers Private Hire for parties, club nights and gigs. Founded in 1820 with its current form dating to 1907, the venue gained prominence as a music venue from 2007 onward.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Live Music Venue (V1 & V2)
• Food Service (The Plough at Hare & Hounds)
• Private Venue Hire
• Weekly Pub Quizzes
• Blues Club
• Comedy Workshops
• Main Bar (Downstairs)

Quantifiable outcome

• Weekly pub quizzes on Wednesdays and Sundays drive regular footfall
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Kings Heath Train StationminorOthers · 1 January 2026New train station under construction near the venue, opening Spring 2026. Will improve public transport accessibility to the venue.
• The Plough (Harborne)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe venue runs its kitchen in collaboration with The Plough from Harborne, bringing their popular menu to Kings Heath. This partnership provides the food service for the venue, offering their Harborne favourites at the Hare & Hounds location.
• Uber EatsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFood delivery partner providing takeaway and delivery service for customers who prefer dining at home. Orders placed in-house only (no phone orders).
• SkiddlecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOnline ticketing partner for all events at the venue. Customers purchase tickets through Skiddle links on the venue website.
• Left Foot VenuescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerManagement company overseeing the venue. Key contacts include Matt Beck (Venue Bookings), Marta Del Pino (PR, Marketing & Accessibility), and Jake Golec (General Manager). All contact emails use the leftfootvenues.co.uk domain.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Brudenell Social Club: Iconic Leeds community-owned live music venue with a similar grass-roots programming ethos and pub-style bar service. Comparable as a UK regional live music venue with a strong heritage identity and similar grassroots touring-band focus, although not in the same city as Hare & Hounds.

Broad incumbents

• Young's (Young & Co's Brewery): London-focused premium pub operator with historic sites and live programming. Broad comparable as a heritage UK pub group combining food, drink, and occasional live entertainment; useful benchmark for premium heritage pub operations though Hare & Hounds is single-site.
• J D Wetherspoon: Large UK pub operator running hundreds of heritage buildings with wet-led and food-led formats. Broad comparable because it competes with Hare & Hounds on pub customers, food, and event-led footfall across Birmingham and the wider UK heritage pub segment, though it does not focus on live music.

Direct peers

• Asylum (Birmingham): Small Birmingham basement venue focused on intimate gigs, club nights, and student-led events. Comparable as a Birmingham ticketed live music competitor targeting overlapping grassroots audiences with Hare & Hounds' upstairs venues.
• The Castle and Falcon: Birmingham live music pub and venue in a converted heritage building, hosting touring bands, comedy, and club nights with a kitchen and late licence. Directly comparable as a Birmingham music-led pub venue operating multiple spaces similar to Hare & Hounds' two-room format.
• O2 Institute Birmingham: Mid-capacity live music venue in central Birmingham hosting touring and local acts across rock, indie, and electronic genres. Directly comparable as a Birmingham-based ticketed live music venue competing for the same artists and audiences as Hare & Hounds' upstairs V1/V2 rooms.
• The Sunflower Lounge: Small independent Birmingham music venue and bar hosting indie, rock, and alternative acts alongside late-night bar service. Comparable as a grassroots Birmingham live music venue with a similar dual-venue, food-lite operating model to Hare & Hounds' upstairs rooms.
• The Rainbow Courtyard & Basement (The Rainbow): Historic Birmingham live music pub and courtyard with a long history of hosting emerging and established acts. Directly comparable as a heritage Birmingham music pub competing with Hare & Hounds for the same local live music crowd and history-driven positioning.
• The Jam House: Birmingham live music venue and restaurant in the Jewellery Quarter offering live jazz, blues, soul, and funk with full dining service. Comparable because it combines a music programming calendar with full food and beverage operation, similar to Hare & Hounds' upstairs venue plus The Plough kitchen model.
• Detention (Birmingham): Independent Birmingham gig venue hosting rock, punk, and indie touring artists in an intimate setting. Comparable as a small Birmingham independent live music venue competing for comparable touring-bands programming that Hare & Hounds books into V1 and V2.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

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 Hare & Hounds