Pub and Bar Fit-Out Contractors, Working to Your Reopening Date
Pub, bar and hospitality fit-out is the work SG Refurb does most of. We work for national pub companies and their estates teams — trading refurbishments, bar builds, back-of-house and full interior fit-outs — priced as a programme and handed back ready to trade on the date agreed. Every day a unit stays shut is money lost, so the date is the job.
From a single bathroom all the way to a full house renovation, the approach is the same: professional, planned and priced before work starts. And as reactive contractors we handle the urgent, unplanned jobs too — whatever the size of the project.
What we fit out
A pub is several trades in one room, running to one date. We take the whole interior:
We work to an operator's standards and specification where there is one, and to a drawing where there is not.
- The bar — servery, back fitting, counters, under-bar and the joinery that makes it work behind as well as in front
- Trade areas — fixed seating, panelling, floors, lighting and the decoration that decides how the room reads on the first night back
- Back of house — cellars, trade kitchens, stores and staff areas
- Customer WCs — full strip-out and rebuild to current standards
- Letting rooms — where the site has accommodation above
- External works — frontages, signage, gardens, terraces and smoking areas
Trading refurbishments — working around a live site
Most of this work happens on a site that is either trading or about to be.
That changes how a job is run, not just what is in it.
We plan the sequence around the closure window: what can be done while the doors are open, what has to wait for the shut, and what has to be finished before the first customer walks back in. Where a unit stays partly trading we keep the working areas separated, clean and safe, and keep noise and dust off the trading side.
We price the programme as well as the works, so an estates manager can see the closure window before committing to it. If the date moves, we tell you early — not on the week.
Who does the work
SG's own settled team carries the building work: brickwork, carpentry and the joinery, plastering, groundworks, and the fitting. Specialist trades — electrics, roofing, decorating and fencing — are brought in and managed by us.
That matters on a licensed site because there is one firm answerable for the whole result and one number to ring, rather than an operator co-ordinating five trades against a reopening date.
Reactive call-outs and emergency repairs
Alongside planned programmes we take reactive call-outs across the South East — the urgent jobs that cannot wait for the next scheduled visit. A leak into a trading area, storm damage to a roof or a shopfront, a failed WC block, water damage after a burst, a cellar that has flooded, or a security repair that has to be made good before you open. On a trading site the cost is rarely the repair itself, it is the hours the doors stay shut, so we come out, make it safe, and tell you plainly what it needs.
For operators and estates teams running several sites, reactive work can sit alongside planned maintenance under the same arrangement, so there is one firm and one number rather than a scramble for whoever answers. Ring 01883 337 700 and ask for the commercial side. Office hours are Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.
Where we work
We are based at 27 High Street, Godstone, Surrey. We work right across the South East — and for fit-out work we go wherever the estate is — north London, Essex, Kent, Sussex and along the coast. If you run sites across a region, distance is not the deciding factor; the programme is.
New to us? Terms for a first site
Taking on an unfamiliar contractor is the risk, not the price. Nobody hands a new firm a site because they shaved a bit off the quote — they do it because the downside of it going wrong is covered.
So for a pub or hospitality operator we have not worked with before, we will talk about terms for a first project: how it is priced, what we will commit to on the programme, and what happens if we miss it. Put us on one unit, watch how we run it, and judge us on how it comes back rather than on a reference.
Ask about first-project terms when you get in touch and we will set them out before work starts with the quote.
Enquiring about a fit-out or a programme
The quote form on this site is built for homeowners.
For a fit-out, a rolling programme or a tender it is quicker to send the detail straight to the office.
Email officeadmin@sgrefurb.co.uk or ring 01883 337 700 and ask for the commercial side.
Useful to send: the site or sites and where they are; the closure window and the reopening date you need to hit; scope or spec and any brand standard pack; whether the premises stay trading during the works; and anything known about access, out-of-hours restrictions or licensing.
A date and a rough scope is enough to start. We survey it and come back with a written schedule of works and a programme.
The kind of fit-out we take on
Indicative of the commercial fit-out work we take on — not photographs of an SG job. Replaced as soon as we have our own.
Common questions
Q.01Do you work for national pub companies?
Yes. Pub, bar and hospitality fit-out is the core of our commercial work, and we carry out refurbishments and full fit-outs for national pub, bar and hospitality operators, working to their standards, their programme and their reopening date. References from comparable schemes are available on request.
Q.02Can a pub be refurbished while it is still trading?
Often, in part. Some work can run while the doors are open if it is separated properly and kept clean, quiet and safe; some has to wait for a closure window. At survey we set out what can be done either side of the shut, so you can see the trade-off between a shorter closure and a longer overall programme before you commit.
Q.03How long does a pub fit-out take?
It depends on the size of the site and how much of it is coming out. The honest answer comes from the survey, not from a page: we look at the unit, agree the scope, and give you a programme with the closure window and the handover date written into the quote. What we will not do is quote a date we have not worked out.
Q.04Do you handle the cellar and the trade kitchen?
Yes. Cellars, trade kitchens, stores and staff areas are part of the same job, along with customer WCs and any letting rooms above. Specialist trades such as electrics are brought in and managed by us, so it stays one firm answerable for the whole fit-out.
Q.05Which areas do you cover for fit-out work?
We are based in Godstone, Surrey and work across right across the South East. For fit-out work we go wherever the estate is — north London, Essex, Kent, Sussex and along the coast.
Q.06Do you do anything different for a first project?
Yes. For a pub or hospitality operator we have not worked with before, we will discuss terms for a first project — how it is priced, what we commit to on the programme, and what happens if we miss it. It is meant to make a first site easy to say yes to. Ask when you enquire and we will set it out before work starts alongside the schedule of works.
Q.07Do you take emergency call-outs on commercial sites?
Yes. We take reactive and emergency call-outs across the South East alongside planned work — leaks into trading areas, storm damage, failed WCs, flooded cellars and making good after a break-in. Ring 01883 337 700 and ask for the commercial side. Office hours are Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.
Q.08Can reactive repairs sit alongside a planned maintenance arrangement?
Yes, and for an operator running several sites that is usually the sensible way round it. The same firm handles the planned upkeep and the urgent jobs, so there is one number to ring rather than finding someone new each time.
Q.09Are you insured for commercial work?
Yes — SG carry £5 million public liability cover and £5 million employers' liability cover. We can provide both certificates for your records before work starts, which most estates teams and managing agents ask for as a matter of course.
The folio continues
The next sheets — the same firm, the same paperwork, on every one.
Planning pub & bar fit-out work?
Tell us what you are thinking. We come out, look at the job properly and give you a price for it.