Practical help served up for struggling pubs

Reporter: Jamie Trueman
Date online: 19 March 2010

Pubs Minister John Healey has announced today a £4m plan to help struggling pubs stay in business.

With nearly 40 pubs closing each week nationwide, Mr Healey was tasked by Gordon Brown to look how government intervention could help community pubs stay afloat.

He has proposed a 12 point plan, which pledges £3.3m for business support to make pubs more successful.

The plan also aims to highlight other ways to aid pubs in being more profitable, and helping them through the troubling current economic climate. 

Such measures include the relaxing of beer ties- the rule which currently binds landlords in being only able to buy beer from pub companies, rather than from local breweries, which can somewhat limit the choice they can offer customers.

Other proposals include potentially cutting the requirement for music licenses in some venues and eliminating council red tape for planning permission for new business ventures within the pub enterprise.

The ‘Pub is the Hub’ voluntary support service which currently helps advise landlords on how to diversify their business to boost trade, will also receive a £1m boost from today’s plan.

Mr Healey said: “This package of tough, practical measures aims to put some real support behind our community pubs, giving publicans more support to diversify and punters more choice. We need and can do more to support our pubs which can be at the heart of a local community.

“Today’s measures are a much needed shot in the arm for publicans in these tough times. They will make it easier to diversify, lower costs and cut red tape when it comes to branching out. It is also a boost for local communities, giving them a greater stake in the future of their local pubs often so important in bringing people together.”