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The Great British Pub
These days it is hard to believe the number of pubs that have closed down or are shut awaiting a new licensee .One has only to walk through any town or village to see once thriving pubs boarded up or advertised to let. What has happened to the Great British Pub?
Before deregulation back in the 90s, to own or run your own pub was seen as a great way of making a livelihood. How many licensees have begun their careers, by envying the landlord down at the local, and wishing that they could do the same .For many who became unemployed during the Thatcher era, it seemed a perfect way to invest their redundancy money and build a prosperous future. Sadly, like a bad pint, that dream was to go sour and for many become a nightmare.
Deregulation, headed by Lord Young, was supposed to free up the beer market, like buses, trains and the coal mines, it promised to give the customer greater choice and make Britain more competitive .The big brewers until then had owned thousands of their own pubs. The big players, Bass, Courage and Scottish and Newcastle who controlled the industry, where forced to sell off some of their pub estates to the highest bidder. Prior to deregulation if you where a Tenant or Manager of a pub, the likelihood is that you could make a reasonably good living. Salaries where good for managers, rents low for tenants.
The Brewers, had some scruples in their dealings with licensees. They also looked after the pubs themselves, with programmes of refurbishment and repair, which kept their estates in good order. However they didn’t do this for nothing, after all, they were in the business of selling beer.
The “New” pub owners where less interested in the welfare of their employees or their tenants A new dawn had begun. Gone were lots of the old ways. No longer was selling beer the only priority, now money could be made from property. Yes, pubs where now seen as capital assets, capable of generating revenue through high rents and other more devious practices. Pub chains where born.
The upkeep of the fabric of the pubs has in a lot of cases passed on, through punitive leases to the tenant. What used to be the responsibility of the brewers, has now been put firmly in the hands of the guy who pulls the pints .For people now employed as managers, the once attractive terms and conditions have been eroded, by increasing hours, staff cuts and more responsibility. The Brewers are now wholesalers to the pub chains, and this has been reflected in higher prices at the bar. Depending on what chain you are with and what sort of a deal has been cut you could be paying a lot more for your keg of beer than the pub does up the road.
All these factors together with a change in peoples drinking habits have brought about an enormous change to the British Pub. As Licensees you are going through a period of enormous change .The beer market is contracting, and pub chains are demanding more and more from their pubs. Something has got to give. The question is who or what?
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