The Victoria Hotel

What The Victoria Hotel does

The Victoria Hotel is a single-site, independent free house pub and restaurant at 85 Dovecote Lane, Beeston, Nottinghamshire, operating under Hands On Pub Co. Ltd. The venue occupies a Victorian building originally constructed in 1840, rebuilt in 1868 and 1899 under Ind Coope & Co, and restored in the 1990s after acquisition by Tynemill Ltd (now Castle Rock) in 1994. It serves locals, beer enthusiasts, and visitors through a unified hospitality offer: an extensive bar program (up to 14 cask ales at any time, approximately 500 different beers annually, plus wines, gins, and rare malt whiskies), a market-driven chalkboard kitchen (starters £5-£8, mains £7-£18, dedicated vegetarian and vegan selection), and a dense events calendar anchored by the 16-day VICFEST festival each July plus CELTFEST, live music, quiz nights, themed ticketed dinners, and private room/buffet hire.

The underlying technology stack is deliberately lightweight: a Squarespace-hosted website (vichotelbeeston.co.uk) for content and discovery, ResOS for self-serve table reservations, and Linktree to aggregate event notifications and social links. There is no proprietary platform, no delivery or e-commerce layer, and no app. Distribution is entirely physical, with reservations accepted via phone (0115 9254049) or the ResOS widget and tickets sold in-venue. Marketing leans on the events program, earned media (CAMRA, Good Pub Guide, The Times, The Telegraph, Hardens, The Nottingham Cook Book), and word-of-mouth from a deeply local community catchment that includes Beeston Art Club, Mikron Theatre, and a charity relationship with Nottingham Trent University's Jon van Geest Research Centre.

The business makes money through unit-pricing, pay-as-you-go transactions across three streams: food and drink (the core), ticketed events and experiences (£0-£70 per person), and venue/buffet hire for meetings and private functions. Revenue is not publicly disclosed. The company has 15 employees, no subsidiaries, no outside funding, and operates exclusively in the United Kingdom.

Name

The Victoria Hotel

Legal name

The Victoria Hotel

Website

https://vichotelbeeston.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1840

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Victoria Hotel is a single-site, independent free house pub and restaurant in Beeston, Nottinghamshire, operating under Hands On Pub Co. Ltd. It serves locals, beer enthusiasts, and event attendees with food, an extensive cask-ale program, and a recurring events calendar anchored by the annual VICFEST festival.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pub and Restaurant Hospitality

NAICS

Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (7224), Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (722410)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Lounge Bars & Hotel Bars (THAFAEAI)

Keywords

• Traditional pub dining
• Cask ale bar
• Live music events
• Private function hire
• Buffet catering services

Headquarters

HQ city

Beeston

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Food and Drink Sales: The primary revenue stream comes from food and beverage sales. The pub offers an extensive menu including starters (£5-£8), mains (£7-£18), desserts (£7), and children's meals (£7-£10). The bar provides up to 14 cask ales, wines, spirits, ciders, and soft drinks. The venue offers approximately 500 different beers annually, rotating selection through dedicated cask ale cellars.
2. Events and Ticketed Experiences: Revenue generated from ticketed events including live music (£0-£20 per person), food festivals (VICFEST), tasting events (Beer and Cheese £20, Spanish BBQ £70, Fish Night £55), and special evenings (Paella Night £22, Greek BBQ £40). Quiz nights priced at £60 per team of 4.
3. Venue Hire and Catering Services: Additional revenue from hiring rooms for events such as meetings, and providing buffet services. Contact information and menus available for conference room bookings.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Victoria Hotel is a genuine free house pub and restaurant in Beeston, Nottinghamshire, serving an extensive range of real ales (up to 14 on cask, ~500 different beers per year), a market-fresh food menu with broad vegetarian and vegan options, and a regular programme of live music and ticketed events. It also offers private room hire and buffet catering for functions and meetings.

Product overview

The Victoria Hotel is a traditional English pub and restaurant offering a unified hospitality experience. The core offerings consist of a bar service with up to 14 real ales and extensive drinks selection, a food service with market-fresh menus and vegetarian options, and events programming including live music and annual festivals. Additional services include private hire of rooms for meetings and events, and bespoke buffet catering.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Vicfest: An annual multi-week long festival held every July featuring live music, food events, and beer festivals.
• Celtfest

Products and services

• Bar and Drinks Service Full bar service offering up to 14 real ales on cask (approximately 500 different beers annually), an extensive wine list, malt whiskies, gins, rums, spirits, draught beers, ciders, and soft drinks. Beer is conditioned in dedicated cask ale cellars and presented to a high standard.
• Food Service Restaurant service with a constantly rotating chalkboard menu based on market availability, including fresh fish, meat, game, seafood, vegetarian options (typically at least ten), home-made desserts, and special dietary accommodation with advance notice.
• Events and Live Music Regular live music performances, themed food events (Paella Night, Greek BBQ, Spanish BBQ, Fish Night, Beer and Cheese, Beer and Curry), quiz nights, theatre performances in the beer garden, and the annual VICFEST and CELTFEST festivals.
• Private Room Hire Rooms available to hire for events such as meetings and private functions, with associated buffet catering packages available.
• Buffet Catering Catering service offering buffet menus for private events and functions, typically paired with room hire.

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Blue MonkeyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCollaborative beer and cheese tasting event partnership. The Vic X Blue Monkey Beer and Cheese evening featured Blue Monkey brewery products paired with the venue's offerings.
• Beeston Art ClubminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCommunity art group that presents Sip and Paint events at The Victoria Hotel. Events include all materials, nibbles, and a glass of fizz for participants.
• Mikron TheatreminorGTM or Marketing PartnerTheatre company that performed at The Victoria Hotel, bringing 'Wensleydale Whey' production. Tickets sold through Mikron's own website.
• Nottingham Trent University - Jon van Geest Research CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity partnership honouring the late landlord Neil Kelso on what would have been his 70th birthday. The Jon van Geest Charity Day at The Victoria raises funds for cancer research, diagnosis and prognosis at Nottingham Trent University's research centre.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Mitchells & Butlers: Large UK pub and restaurant operator (e.g., Harvester, Ember Inns, All Bar One). Overlaps with The Victoria on UK food-and-drink-led pub operations, but operates at very different scale and brand portfolio breadth.
• Fuller, Smith & Turner: Historic London brewer and pub operator with a portfolio of premium food-led pubs. Overlaps with The Victoria on heritage positioning, cask ale focus, and food-led destination pub model, but at much larger group scale.
• Young & Co.'s Brewery: Long-established London & South East brewery and pub operator with a heritage estate of food-led pubs. Comparable on heritage-led, food-and-drink-led pub operations, though at substantially greater scale than The Victoria.

Direct peers

• Peach Pubs: Independent group of ~20 high-end food-led pubs across southern England. Closely comparable positioning to The Victoria — premium pub dining, seasonal menus, strong drinks ranges, and community-focused venue operations.
• Oakman Inns: Operator of premium food-led pubs and inns across the Midlands and Home Counties. Overlaps with The Victoria on full-service pub dining, real ale programmes, and venue-hire/event revenue streams.
• Laine Pub Co: Brighton-based independent operator of destination pubs with strong cask ale credentials, live music, and event programming. Comparable to The Victoria on free-house ethos, music-led community events, and curated drinks range.
• St Austell Brewery: South West regional brewer and pub operator with a portfolio of food-led destination pubs. Overlaps with The Victoria on regional brewery + pub operator model and food-focused trading.
• Bathams: Historic Black Country family brewer operating its own tied pub estate with strong cask ale heritage. Comparable to The Victoria on family/independently-run brewery-tied pub model and real ale-led offering.
• Brunning & Price (Proper Pubs): Quality independent pub operator running ~70 destination gastropubs across the UK. Directly comparable to The Victoria on free-house/destination pub model, premium food-led offering, cask ale programmes, and historic-building conversions.

Others

• Castle Rock Brewery: Nottingham-based regional brewery and pub operator that owns the freehold of The Victoria Hotel. Operates a similar portfolio of free houses and tied houses in the East Midlands with comparable cask ale focus.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hands-on-pub-co.-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 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 The Victoria Hotel