Author Archives: Ben Thomas

Pubs need support now and inclusion for their future

Embed from Getty Images

Having relaunched a pub in Brighton during the election, watching it grow into a successful community pub then suddenly falling complete silent has been an absolute roller-coaster of emotions. Not seeing your regulars every day is a weird feeling and not knowing when those doors will open again leaves me anxious for the future of the industry.

I’m a lucky one though, my parent pub company have been incredibly supportive and with their help and the coronavirus retention scheme, I’ve been able to continue paying 100% of my staffs’ wages. But for lots of publicans this is not the case.

Some of the big Pub Co’s are still collecting extortionate rents from their tenants, even though there has been zero footfall through the doors. Pubs with higher rateable values are exempt from grants. Bank loans are little to none in the hospitality sector and seasonal staff will be significantly worse off with the summer season limited. All these issues need addressing urgently, if we want pubs to be there able and ready for when we can enjoy that much anticipated pint with our friends again.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 8 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • nigel hunter
    Can we have,will there be a debate at conference where a new mindset can be discussed?...
  • Judy Abel
    @David agree with those points. There are no checks and balances when it comes to how capital operates in our markets....
  • David Allen
    "I think you could claim that a dogmatic insistence on a single ownership model has failed." Fair point, up to a point. Certainly - as I mentioned - nationa...
  • Mick Taylor
    There seems to be a schizophrenic approach by our party when talking about high streets. On the one hand people bemoan the decline of high streets and on the ot...
  • David Raw
    @ theakes "But we have to attack them"...... But that assumes anybody is even listening to the Lib Dems these days............. Most of the time there seems ...