Friday July 18: Take it to the top

Getting your MP into your pub will help you to tell the real story about what pubs do for their communities - and give you a chance to raise your profile where it matters.

This is the key Proud of Pubs Week activity we've been encouraging readers to get behind in the past two months - and at the time of going to press, close to 100 MPs have now agreed to make a visit to a pub in the week.

Of a similar number of MPs who got involved in Proud of Pubs Week last summer, many said it had been a helpful exercise.

John Heppell, MP for Nottingham East and a member of the All-Parliamentary Beer Group, met with licensee Karen Williams at Nottingham pub the Lincolnshire Poacher last year.

He says the week is an ideal opportunity for licensees to showcase

the things pubs, their staff and customers are doing in their communities. "Pubs like the Poacher are not only valuable local businesses playing an important part in the economic well-being of our neighbourhoods, but they are also a vital element in the community fabric that makes Nottingham what it is today," says John.

"On my visit, I met staff and customers and found out more about the issues affecting them at the moment. And I was keen to meet constituents in what proved to be a very informal and interesting day."

Other MPs visiting pubs during last year's week included former Tory leader Michael Howard and the then-LibDem leader Sir Menzies Campbell.

In Guisborough, on Teeside, licensee Bryan Rees welcomed in Labour MP Ashok Kumar at the Highland Laddie, on the town's market square.

"I poured him a pint and we had a chat," remembers Bryan. "We got our picture taken and it went into the local newspaper, so we got a good bit of publicity out of it. Every little bit helps!"

Making it work​

You may not have a politician coming into your pub during this year's Proud of Pubs Week - but it's an invitation that could well have some success at any time.

What's key is that when you come face-to-face with your MP, make sure you make it a constructive meeting, and that you think up a strategy in advance.

Don't just use it as an excuse for a moanfest: as well as an opportunity to set out your issues, a meeting with an MP will give you a chance to talk about all the great things pubs do, and give them something positive to take back to Westminster for the future.

Gareth Barrett, public affairs assistant the British Beer & Pub Association, said: "Whilst MPs are beginning to listen to the cause of pubs in crisis this year, there is still a lot of work to do to tell them how pubs are at the hub of the communities.

"The fear of their community losing their cultural heart is something that really strikes a chord with them - a lot of their constituents will go to the pub."

Use Proud of Pubs Week as the hook to really put your pub on the map with the people that count.

High-profile MPs visiting pubs in Proud of Pubs Week​

John Healey (Wentworth) - minister for local government

James Purnell (Stalybridge & Hyde) - Work and Pensions Secretary

Theresa May (Maidenhead) - shadow leader of the House of Commons

Francis Maude (Horsham) - shadow cabinet office minister

Julian Brazier (Canterbury & Whitstable) - shadow transport minister

Lembit Opik (Montgomeryshire) - shadow housing minister