To survive high closure rate rural pubs must diversify, says report
More than half of all villages in England are now without a pub for the first time since the Norman Conquest.
A new study, supported by HRH the Prince of Wales, has discovered that rural pubs are closing at the rate of six each week.
But the report, by the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) and the Countryside Agency, also found that the best way to make sure rural pubs survive is for them to provide other essential services.
The Pub is the Hub report encourages licensees to diversify so when a villager pops out for a pint he can also pick up a paper, a pint of milk, his pension and a video.
Other ideas for "best practice" contained in the report include letting pub rooms for religious services and gambling shops.
In his foreword to the report the Prince of Wales said: "Rural communities and this country's rural way of life are facing unprecedented challenges. Now perhaps more than ever in their history, they must draw on their resourcefulness and resilience to meet changing circumstance and find new ways to help themselves. But they need not and indeed cannot, do it alone."
"Finding new uses for village pubs, many of which are the only remaining service in the community has become one part of Business in the Community's Rural Action Programme under the campaign headline Make the Pub the Hub."
Traditional pubs have suffered from young drinkers' preference for large, town-centre outlets as well as greater concern over drink-drive laws. But the report said the closure of other village services such as shops and post offices, could be a silver lining for the pub trade.
"Licensees must be encouraged to think of themselves as rural retailers and look at what other services could be provided to support local needs," said John Longden, property adviser for the BBPA.
"By diversifying their pubs beyond the normal food and drink boundaries, it will not only benefit their business but create new jobs locally."
Margaret Clark, director of the Countryside Agency, said: "Pubs are at the heart of rural communities across the country. Delivering other services, such as the Post Office and shop, makes sense for the pub and for the community. Many communities have had to contend with the consequences of foot-and-mouth so diversifying is even more important."
Examples of best practice in the report include the Craven Heifer Hotel in Stainworth, Yorkshire, where the licensees also run the Post Office, sell groceries and frozen meals.
Customers visiting the White Inn in Blythburgh, Suffolk, can rent a video, collect dry cleaning and pick up prescriptions while the Miners Arms in Brassington in Derbyshire was the first pub in the country to offer an IT training club.
For a copy of the report call the BBPA on 020 7627 9191.
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