Pub closures spark interest in Pub is the Hub
The publicity given to the closure of pubs has sparked an upturn in interest in Pub is the Hub schemes.
Longden: Pub is the Hub going great guns
Pub is the Hub, which provides grants for rural regeneration and diversification of pubs, is currently working on 33 projects, including opening seven post offices in South East pubs.
The scheme is now available in 16 council areas in England and five in Wales. “The publicity given to the closure of pubs has made the pub more political to local authorities,” said Pub is the Hub co-ordinator John Longden.
“Six years ago when we started, local authorities were fairly anti-pub. They saw them as just another small business making a profit so why should they help them.
“But now there is the theory that if the pub dies, the village dies and local authorities are far more willing to help them diversify.”
Longden said that more and more councils were including Pub is the Hub under their own rural regeneration schemes — one example being in Suffolk, where grants of up to £5,000 are now available for pubs wishing to diversify.
Longden said the frustration was that the scheme was not national. “We work on a region by region basis so if you live in Suffolk, you are lucky. But if you live in another area, there might not yet be a scheme up and running.
“We are very busy — so much so there is hardly time to tell everyone about the success schemes are having.”
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