Speaking at the MA Leaders Club Conference in London last week (4 March), panellists said pubs play a critical role in tackling loneliness, supporting grassroots sport and providing vital social infrastructure across the UK.
The panel featured Jon Dale, strategic corporate affairs, external relations and ESG lead Punch Pubs & Co and chair of communications at PubAid; John Longden, chief executive of Pub is the Hub; and Gemma Finnegan, impact and research lead at Cornwall Rural Community Charity.
Dale said engagement with local communities was already embedded within the pub sector but argued operators needed to communicate their impact more clearly to policymakers.
“It’s just what pub operators do,” he said. “But it’s not just about the economic value pubs bring to communities. It’s also about the social value.”
‘Invisible glue’
Research cited during the session showed that 62% of UK pubs support grassroots sport, generating between £160m and £300m in annual social value. Dale described pubs as “the invisible glue that holds communities together”.
“You lose a pub and you lose the camaraderie and togetherness that comes with it,” he said.
Finnegan said the sector often struggles to articulate its wider impact, particularly when discussions focus primarily on alcohol consumption rather than wellbeing.
“Social value is about measuring the broader impact a venue has,” she said. “It looks at economic and social outcomes and asks what real change that activity creates for people and communities.”
The methodology used by organisations such as Pub is the Hub draws on social return on investment models developed over the past three decades to translate social outcomes into measurable economic value.
Longden said the true driver of this value was not the venue itself but the people running it. “The pub isn’t the hero. The pub is just bricks and mortar,” he said. “The hero is the good publican.”
He added that publicans often needed financial and practical support to unlock their venue’s full community potential.
“Every pound invested in social value generates around £8.28 for the community,” he said.
Diversifying the offer
Diversification was also highlighted as a key route for strengthening community engagement. Longden pointed to initiatives such as craft evenings, travelling theatre performances, community gardens and village stores as ways pubs can bring new audiences through the door while addressing issues such as loneliness and isolation.
“These are often simple things a publican can champion,” he said. “If you support the community, the community will support the pub.”
Dale added that operators should be more proactive in sharing examples of their work locally, particularly as the industry seeks to influence government policy.
“It’s not enough to say ‘it’s just what we do’,” he said. “We need to shout it from the rooftops.”
He noted that PubAid’s weekly fundraising initiative had helped raise more than £500,000 for local charities in the past six months alone.
Finnegan added that context was particularly important in rural areas, where pubs may serve as the only remaining public meeting space.
“In some communities the pub is the only place people can gather,” she said. “Understanding that role is critical.”
Panellists concluded that demonstrating both economic and social returns could strengthen the sector’s case for investment and policy support.
“If you can show social return as well as economic return,” said Longden, “then you are worth investing in.”
