LIVERPOOL has been targeted in the expansion plans of a London youth hostel franchise that breathes new life into run-down pubs by creating accommodation dormitories.

Bermondsey-based Journeys installs scores of its micro-cell bunk beds for hostellers who can boost landlords’ food and drink takings through their added custom.

Journeys currently has three London sites and one in Brighton, all in former pubs, and has identified two key locations in Liverpool as part of its growth plans to open a further 15 hostels during 2011.

Director Derek Bodman said: “We are now in talks with the current owners to take things further in respect to Journeys hostels.

“Both of these have potential to create new hostels with bed capacities of 250-300.

“They also have a long list of applicants who are interested in being the franchisees for these sites, and managing the hostels if the bids are successful.”

He added: “What Journeys are now really interested in is finding some smaller sites within Liverpool city centre and hope that they can team up with pubs who are looking for a new income stream in the current financial environment to achieve this.”

Pubs are under increasing pressure from cheap supermarket drink and rising taxes from Westminster, and closures within the pubs industry are running at an historic high.

But Journeys says that hostelling is booming as the trend for “staycations” grows, and people seek out cheaper accommodation alternatives.

Its micro-cell bunks include full black-out curtains, individual power supplies, shelves and lights to create a private space within a dorm scenario.

The group said one of the first pub- based Journeys sites, which has been running for two years, was created in a dilapidated pub environment and in just its second year of trading turned over £630,000, yielding a profit of £221,000.

Mr Bodman added: “The poor British publicans are getting hammered from all angles at the moment by the pubcos they’re tied to, by less and more frugal punters coming through the door, and Westminster’s tax attacks.

“We reckon that, using our model and online booking system, most pubs in the UK could pay the start-up costs off in the first year of trading and then start to pocket the profit.

“The British pub is an iconic institution, and we are convinced our model offers hard-working landlords a means of increasing profits, and in some cases survival.”