Two-and-a-half-years ago, Jonathan Neame showed me round the newly bought Fayreness Hotel in Kingsgate, near Broadstairs.

Despite its beautiful location overlooking Botany Bay to the north and Kingsgate Bay to the south, it sported dated carpets, an old-fashioned wooden bar, a 1980s brickwork exterior and two nasty conservatories.

Today, Mr Neame is proudly showing me round the premises after a £1.4 million revamp in 2014, with new weatherboarding around its front and sides and a refreshed bar and rooms.

It has been rechristened the Botany Bay Hotel, and families can stay in its contemporary turret suites overlooking the beaches for £255 for two nights. It has 47 weddings booked this year; last year it hosted 46.

“We are looking for unique destinations,” said Mr Neame, who became chief executive of the Faversham-based beer and pub company, which bears his family name, in 2003.

“We don’t have that many pubs on high streets. We are looking for buildings which have got character and personality.”

Next on the tour is the £600,000 development of the Royal Albion Hotel in Broadstairs, adding extra space to the restaurant.

The site has undergone three revamps since Shepherd Neame bought it in 2007.

Last year, Shepherd Neame spent £8.6 million on refurbishing its hotels and pubs, and it plans to increase that figure in the years ahead.

Next stop is the Coastguard in St Margaret’s Bay, near Dover. The company only bought it in January, but wasted no time in spending £200,000 on a revamp.

In the past six years, Shepherd Neame has bought 17 pubs and sold 50, as it repositions its portfolio of 338 pubs.

“It’s not a numbers game any more,” said Mr Neame. “It’s a quality game. There isn’t a market out there for the mediocre.

“People will pay for a good experience, whether it’s a sporting occasion, music or entertainment.

"They will not pay for mediocre because often they can get a better experience online or at home.”

Despite the return of consumer spending in pubs in the past few years, there are several factors that could halt the company’s growth. One is the EU referendum.

“We want certainty. We have got clear plans and we know what we want to invest in.

"We want to be left to get on with that and don’t want significant new influence from a legislative or fiscal point of view.”

Shepherd Neame is also grappling with the impact of the new national living wage, which increased minimum pay for over-25s to £7.20 an hour last month.

“The living wage, in isolation, is the right thing to do,” said Mr Neame. The challenge is the speed of the rate of growth is quite steep. It coincides with the rating revaluation in 2017, which is quite a concern for traditional retail businesses like ours where we own a lot of property.

“We want certainty. We have got clear plans and we know what we want to invest in..." - Jonathan Neame, Shepherd Neame

“We have got all these new events happening at the same time. It might be right for the long term but it is clearly a cost which businesses need to absorb.

“Some form of external shock between now and 2020, whether it’s from the global economy or Brexit, could be very challenging.”

Former Shepherd Neame drinking hole the Hope Inn stands empty just a mile up the road from the Coastguard pub in St Margaret’s Bay, where the brewer has invested £200,000 this year.

“It wasn’t a bad pub in its day but it shows what’s happening,” said chief executive Jonathan Neame.

“This community used to have four pubs and it will probably end up with two but the offer of the two left will be significantly better.”

The Hope Inn, which is up for sale, is part of a sad trend for pubs across the nation.

In the last 10 years, 10,000 boozers have shut, bringing the nation’s total to about 48,000.

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) says 27 pubs are closing every week across the UK with many being converted to another use by large developers.

Mr Neame said: “We have always been responsive to change and if a pub is not viable, it’s not viable, end of story. No-one benefits if no-one can keep the place going.

“A few go to other licence users but the reality is the majority end up as private houses, where they started life.

“In many communities, particularly rural areas, pubs are too small or don’t generate enough traffic to sustain a viable living.

“On the other hand, many pubs are getting more investment than they have ever had and providing a fabulous offer on food and drink.

“People are consolidating and going to fewer outlets but usually they are of a higher quality than before.”

“In many communities, particularly rural areas, pubs are too small or don’t generate enough traffic to sustain a viable living..." - Jonathan Neame, Shepherd Neame

Not all areas of the beer sector have contracted. There has been a resurgence in consumer interest in traditional ales and stouts, primarily driven by micro-breweries.

In the UK there are 1,700 breweries. Although there were 6,500 a century ago, there were less than 100 in the mid-1990s.

It has forced Shepherd Neame to up its brewing game, with a new Whitstable Bay range, pale ales and blonde beers, which have enjoyed “spectacular” growth among many other products.

“Our brewers love the fact consumers are more interested in old beer styles,” said Mr Neame.

“The explosion in breweries has been great for the consumer, who can taste new flavours. It has created a new sense of local niches.

“People are more experimental with hops and barley and the new beer varieties have stimulated us to change our product range.

"We have invested more in products in the last five years than in my whole time here.”