A bitter end for pubs?
BRITAIN’S boozers are at the heart of our communities – but the challenges they face are hardly a barrel of laughs. And that was before the pandemic hit. Covid has seen the demise of over a quarter of UK pubs, meaning around 14,000 have called last orders forever. When chef and pub landlord Tom Kerridge set out to investigate the challenges facing British pubs, that was prepandemic and he had no idea quite how bad it was about to get. As this three-parter starts, he’s like a kinder Gordon Ramsay, on a mission to revive struggling pubs.
“It’s where the world is put to rights over a pint of the usual,” says Tom, who owns three pubs himself. “I want to find out why so many are failing.”
Working with four very different pubs, he gets to know the landlords and works out what they can do to improve their business.
He begins at The White Hart Inn in Chilsworthy, Cornwall, the only pub in the village. But Amy and Ian are scraping a living despite working themselves to the bone 24-7. The Prince Albert in Stroud is regularly full so Tom is surprised to hear they are struggling.
In Nunhead, South London, he meets Lana, leaseholder at The Golden Anchor, once a vibrant meeting place for the Caribbean community.
And the Black Bull in Gartmore, Scotland, has just been bought by its local community to save it from property developers.
With ideas to modernise, diversify and renovate, Tom brings optimism for these landlords. But then everything comes to a shattering halt…