The Morning Advertiser (MA) spoke to Dale Harvey to find out more about how he is helping the hospitality industry stay afloat on his ‘Great British Pub crawl’ and why it is so vital to keep pubs alive.
Harvey started the initiative on 16 March 2022, he said: “When I first posted this on social media, I never expected anybody to take any interest in anything I’ve been doing whatsoever, [but it has grown] to the point where it was viable to use it as a job.”
Harvey emphasised he felt pubs are important for uniting community members and not necessarily just places for people to drink.
He added: “I went into pubs when I was 16 years old, which is a long time ago now, so I’ve been in and around this industry for 28 years. I love everything about it. I love the fact that pubs are not just places to get drunk.
“Pubs are social hubs for people to meet and improve their mental health more than anything.
“I’ve met people up and down this country where they say to me, Dale, look, my only social network, my social lifeline is going to the local pub.”
Touching on how his journey started, Harvey said: “[My wife and I] got bored of seeing glorious old pub buildings shut.
“We would take trips to the countryside and maybe pass 10 or 15 pubs on that journey. Every time they were closed, boarded up or shut. That to me was very sad to see.
“So we started this as a hobby, with the intention of just visiting pubs in Nottinghamshire.
“I then changed my idea from the Great Nottinghamshire pub crawl to the Great British Pub crawl.”
Pubs deserve more support
Harvey highlighted how his journey has evolved and changed.
He said: “It took us seven months to do every pub in Nottinghamshire, taking a photo and having a beer in each one visited.
“Then we said let’s go out and visit as many pubs as we can. But I kind of feel the weight of the UK on my shoulders sometimes!”
He further stressed how passionately he felt about aiding and supporting the hospitality industry.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve met some amazing people up and down this country. I’ve been to Edinburgh and I’ve been to Penzance, which is the furthest I’ve been so far.”
People need to understand that look, we need help. We need it more than ever and now is the time
While Harvey said he has heard “horror stories”, he focuses on the “feel good stories” he hears.
Harvey continued: “I just want to do what I can to keep this industry going and keep it alive. Pub landlords, I hope, can see I am just genuinely passionate and here to help.”
Though Harvey asserted he was not a pub reviewer, as many may expect and didn’t not want to be known as one.
Harvey emphasised how important the message is he is aiming to promote and why it is key for the Government to take notice.
“I want the media to understand the reason I went out to do this was to highlight the failings that we’ve had,” he said.
Harvey admitted he felt the UK has had “thirty plus years” of failure from the Government when it comes to the preservation of pubs and the support they deserve.
He outlined the hospitality industry was the most severely affected by Covid and that he hoped people would realise he started his movement for a reason.
“Its not about me” he said, “it’s about the pubs.”
“People need to understand they need help, now more than ever.
“Tomorrow is too late. It’s not relevant what I drink in a pub, or the state of my health or my opinion on a certain pub or if it’s my favourite.
“I don’t want to be asked these things. They don’t matter. The whole point of the videos I do is to showcase the pub I am at, give it a spotlight and give it a voice. That is what matters.”
Passion for pubs
He added: “That’s my favourite type. If people want to ask me my favourite type of pub there it is…an open one! A pub that is thriving with a happy landlord is the best one. One that is not closed down. A pub that has got its lights on is the best.
“I genuinely think in this country we have got a passion for pubs and we do care about preserving them. This is our heritage and history.”
Addressing the need for a shared voice to communicate current issues in the industry, he said: “So many campaigners and groups have started speaking up about the situation pubs are in and they all get to a point where they either hit a roadblock and stop in their quest or they give up completely.
“The thing is, none of them ever want to work together. So I put a call out on my Facebook, which has been shared 40,000 times, with nearly half a million comments on it.
“I want all of these pub groups to come and say, let’s all sit in a room together and fight this together.
“Together we’ve got a voice. We need help and the time is now. Individually, we’ve got nothing because no one’s going to listen to one person shouting.”
Pubs don’t belong to CEOS in ivory towers
Through his Facebook, Harvey suggested ways to “change the culture” of what is happening to pubs.
One initiative, would be to introduce legislation making pubs that are 100 or more years old listed buildings so that it can no longer have a change of use.
Harvey explained he believed if a pub has been standing for more than ninety years, the site should be considered “a part of British culture and heritage” and a “pub for life”.
He went on to outline a need for generating fresh ideas and initiatives.
“We need to stop this tangent of stuff closing. All these pub companies that have got these empty pubs now, they’re just sat on the corners of streets,” Harvey said.
He added: “With most empty for five to six years… we should give a pub company, two years and say if that pub is not open again, you forfeit that back to the community. That, in my opinion is where it really belongs."
Further outlining how he feels pubs ultimately belong to the community, he said: “This would force companies who have got more than 50,000 buildings with at least 25% of them sat empty, to give back to the community.
“It forces these companies hands and says, look, drop the rent you’re asking. Drop the ties. Drop all this rubbish that you need to pay to go in.
“Get these pubs back and open in the communities they really belong to, because pubs don’t belong to CEOS sat in Ivory Towers, they belong to the people of the communities they’re in.”
