Support the hub of your community

Nov 28 2008 by Iain Laing, The Journal

VISITING a friend last week I passed a number of previously bustling pubs locked, dark and for sale. Four are shutting their doors for the last time every day, and 20,000 across the country are in danger of following them.

It is the quintessentially British village hostelries which are suffering most. Their demise is the consequence of a crippling combination of the credit crunch, smoking ban, cheap supermarket alcohol and soaring costs.

Six years ago Prince Charles launched the “Pub is the Hub” campaign. It is meant to help what are seen as essential amenities in rural areas. Despite his best efforts many traditional community hubs have called last orders. As they close, the villages and towns lose part of their life and attraction. The rural pub is more than just a business, it is at the heart of many rural communities.

At the same time, the gaudy city centre chains full of “vertical drinkers” will continue to attract people with promises of “happy hours”. The drink-fuelled offer challenges the vertical policy of the pubs, and encourages drinking to excess just as the evening begins.

The rise of the “gastro-pub” is one way in which some pubs have changed to restaurants to take advantage of the wider food and wine margins which will hopefully see them through the recession and beyond.

The more pervasive problem for all pub owners is the supermarkets’ 24 hours a day offer of cheap, easily available booze. It means by the time many people reach the pub, they are already drunk. That increases the risk of accidents, crime – to them and by them – and a hefty bill for policing potential incidents.

If current trends continue, supermarkets are likely to overtake pub sales within the next year. Given household spending strictures, cold winter nights and huge difference in cost between supermarket and pub alcohol, many regulars are deciding to spend the weekend at home in front of the television rather than venture out to the pub.

And perversely the binge-drinking that is abhorred by the government often begins at home, where loss-leading drink offers from the “pile ’em high, sell ’em cheap” shops mean we can indulge without feeling the pinch.

We need to visit our local pub to protect it from joining the thousands that have called time. They are designed as places to meet friends, chat and relax, and we could all do with some convivial cheer as days darken.

Nicholas Craig is a partner at Watson Burton law firm