Gardeners Arms landlord Paul Silcock makes an appeal on behalf of all pubs
I’m going to start off by just warning you this article isn’t going to have a ton of good cheer in it. So before we go any further I’m going to offer you something optimistic, something that should hopefully bring you cheer. An antidote to the black cloud I’m about to drag over your particular skies. Ready?
Go and subscribe to the podcast “The Good Stuff” with Matt and Phil. Go on, do it now. It’ll really cheer up your day. It’s almost like they created it to counterbalance this article. You can find it wherever you get your podcasts or at www.thegoodstuffpodcast.co.uk. Have it ready to clear the air when you’ve finished reading this article. You’ll thank me.
Right, those of you brave enough to carry on? Read on, hardy drinker, read on.
Last week as I write this, various news outlets reported on the closure rate of pubs this year alone. It was a shocking 161. 161. That’s practically two a day. It made me go back and look at an article I wrote just a couple of issues ago in Oxford Drinker magazine about the future of pubs. One in which I took a vaguely optimistic tone. And I’m still not ready to throw the towel in on the British pub, but I think it bears looking at what has happened between then and now to change things.
In my defence, I did write that last article before the government scaled back business rate relief for small businesses, changed the rateable values of pubs, got shouted at by the public, banned from many pubs, stuck by their guns for less than 24 hours, did enough U-turns to feel dizzy and finally announced a 15% cut. In real world terms though that’s still another rise that unfortunately is going to have to be (A) passed on to the customer, or (B) absorbed by the business by dropping staff. Flash back to those 161 pubs that closed this year — that is estimated to be 2,500 jobs lost.
I’m not trying to be political with that, if it wasn’t Labour the Conservatives would have done something different but similar. If I was trying to be political, I’d ask every landlord to bar Reform MPs and councillors. In fact, here’s some good news, not one Reformer got elected to the Oxford City Council this year. So that’s pleasing.
What is even more worrying for the future of pubs, though, is the war in Iran. Didn’t see that one coming when I wrote the previous article. While it may seem that Iran is a long way away (and it is, I checked. Geography is not my strong suit, as anyone who’s been to our pub quiz knows, so I did a quick Google to be sure). The impact of the military action started by the tangerine toupee tosser Trump is going to have a seriously detrimental effect on everyone’s finances. Because oil has just become scarce.
Oil isn’t beer. But oil helps the delivery of beer. And the delivery of the bits that make up beer.
It’s not just oil, it’s everything caught up in that stretch of water that three months ago 99% of you had never given a thought to. Certainly Trump hadn’t, given his outrage and surprise at the Iranians closing the Strait of Hormuz. Today as I write this a snack food giant in Japan has had to change all its packaging to black and white due to the scarcity of coloured ink from the closure of the Strait.
I’m sure you’ve all noticed how prices have rocketed at the petrol stations. That’s going to hit businesses that deliver products hard. Those trucks need fuel, and that fuel is figured into the price of the items those trucks are delivering, so as it costs more to deliver said items… Look, you know this, I’ll stop patronising you with GCSE economics. Sadly, though, this fact is a double-edged shitty stick for retail. Items for retail go up in price for the retailer to buy, therefore the items go up in price for the customer, so the customer has less money to go around.
We need more of your money to stay in business and you have less money to help us achieve it. That is the simple fact.So where does that leave us?
Well, not in a good place. There are no two ways about it. With a government unwilling to do anything more than pay lip service to supporting local business, and a power-mad, would-be dictator at the helm of the most powerful nation in the world. I mean, things don’t really look good all round, not just for pubs. So go and listen to that podcast I recommended at the start of this, enjoy it.
What we don’t want to see more of….. the derelict Crown & Thistle in Headington
And then, try and stop drinking at home. It’s a huge ask. It’s truly pie in the sky thinking really. But save that beer money. Save it for beer in the pub. Yes, it won’t go as far. It’ll go nowhere near as far if I’m honest, but it does come with some benefits. Firstly, sociability. Which is crucial in these times. The effect of isolation on mental health is so well documented I’m not going to go into it here other than to say, wow, it’s bad.
Secondly, a little less alcohol might not be such a bad thing for physical health. Mind you, I would say that, I’m a personal trainer on the side, because every landlord needs a second job now.
Look, maybe this government or the next will raise the duty on off-licence alcohol and drop it for on-licence alcohol. Maybe they’ll slash business rates, or ride cash defecating unicorns through the doorways of every pub, club and cafe in the country. Maybe, and even less realistically than that last idea about unicorns, Trump will have a moment of sanity and sign a meaningful peace treaty with Iran.
If none of that happens, and it probably won’t, then the future of the pub lies in your hands. Your desire for these communal places, and your custom at them, will be all that keeps them open. Everyone is in a pinch. Only despotic oil barons are gonna be making profits, and they’ll be spending them on bottles of Macallan 25-year-old which they’ll keep on shelves to impress their equally rich friends with. Still, if vinyl can still be around 30 years after the CD was supposed to wipe it out, maybe the pub can be too.
Future of pubs is in your hands
Gardeners Arms landlord Paul Silcock makes an appeal on behalf of all pubs
I’m going to start off by just warning you this article isn’t going to have a ton of good cheer in it. So before we go any further I’m going to offer you something optimistic, something that should hopefully bring you cheer. An antidote to the black cloud I’m about to drag over your particular skies. Ready?
Go and subscribe to the podcast “The Good Stuff” with Matt and Phil. Go on, do it now. It’ll really cheer up your day. It’s almost like they created it to counterbalance this article. You can find it wherever you get your podcasts or at www.thegoodstuffpodcast.co.uk. Have it ready to clear the air when you’ve finished reading this article. You’ll thank me.
Right, those of you brave enough to carry on? Read on, hardy drinker, read on.
Last week as I write this, various news outlets reported on the closure rate of pubs this year alone. It was a shocking 161. 161. That’s practically two a day. It made me go back and look at an article I wrote just a couple of issues ago in Oxford Drinker magazine about the future of pubs. One in which I took a vaguely optimistic tone. And I’m still not ready to throw the towel in on the British pub, but I think it bears looking at what has happened between then and now to change things.
In my defence, I did write that last article before the government scaled back business rate relief for small businesses, changed the rateable values of pubs, got shouted at by the public, banned from many pubs, stuck by their guns for less than 24 hours, did enough U-turns to feel dizzy and finally announced a 15% cut. In real world terms though that’s still another rise that unfortunately is going to have to be (A) passed on to the customer, or (B) absorbed by the business by dropping staff. Flash back to those 161 pubs that closed this year — that is estimated to be 2,500 jobs lost.
I’m not trying to be political with that, if it wasn’t Labour the Conservatives would have done something different but similar. If I was trying to be political, I’d ask every landlord to bar Reform MPs and councillors. In fact, here’s some good news, not one Reformer got elected to the Oxford City Council this year. So that’s pleasing.
What is even more worrying for the future of pubs, though, is the war in Iran. Didn’t see that one coming when I wrote the previous article. While it may seem that Iran is a long way away (and it is, I checked. Geography is not my strong suit, as anyone who’s been to our pub quiz knows, so I did a quick Google to be sure). The impact of the military action started by the tangerine toupee tosser Trump is going to have a seriously detrimental effect on everyone’s finances. Because oil has just become scarce.
Oil isn’t beer. But oil helps the delivery of beer. And the delivery of the bits that make up beer.
It’s not just oil, it’s everything caught up in that stretch of water that three months ago 99% of you had never given a thought to. Certainly Trump hadn’t, given his outrage and surprise at the Iranians closing the Strait of Hormuz. Today as I write this a snack food giant in Japan has had to change all its packaging to black and white due to the scarcity of coloured ink from the closure of the Strait.
I’m sure you’ve all noticed how prices have rocketed at the petrol stations. That’s going to hit businesses that deliver products hard. Those trucks need fuel, and that fuel is figured into the price of the items those trucks are delivering, so as it costs more to deliver said items… Look, you know this, I’ll stop patronising you with GCSE economics. Sadly, though, this fact is a double-edged shitty stick for retail. Items for retail go up in price for the retailer to buy, therefore the items go up in price for the customer, so the customer has less money to go around.
We need more of your money to stay in business and you have less money to help us achieve it. That is the simple fact.So where does that leave us?
Well, not in a good place. There are no two ways about it. With a government unwilling to do anything more than pay lip service to supporting local business, and a power-mad, would-be dictator at the helm of the most powerful nation in the world. I mean, things don’t really look good all round, not just for pubs. So go and listen to that podcast I recommended at the start of this, enjoy it.
And then, try and stop drinking at home. It’s a huge ask. It’s truly pie in the sky thinking really. But save that beer money. Save it for beer in the pub. Yes, it won’t go as far. It’ll go nowhere near as far if I’m honest, but it does come with some benefits. Firstly, sociability. Which is crucial in these times. The effect of isolation on mental health is so well documented I’m not going to go into it here other than to say, wow, it’s bad.
Secondly, a little less alcohol might not be such a bad thing for physical health. Mind you, I would say that, I’m a personal trainer on the side, because every landlord needs a second job now.
Look, maybe this government or the next will raise the duty on off-licence alcohol and drop it for on-licence alcohol. Maybe they’ll slash business rates, or ride cash defecating unicorns through the doorways of every pub, club and cafe in the country. Maybe, and even less realistically than that last idea about unicorns, Trump will have a moment of sanity and sign a meaningful peace treaty with Iran.
If none of that happens, and it probably won’t, then the future of the pub lies in your hands. Your desire for these communal places, and your custom at them, will be all that keeps them open. Everyone is in a pinch. Only despotic oil barons are gonna be making profits, and they’ll be spending them on bottles of Macallan 25-year-old which they’ll keep on shelves to impress their equally rich friends with. Still, if vinyl can still be around 30 years after the CD was supposed to wipe it out, maybe the pub can be too.
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