LOL – love our local

Reports from the British Beer & Pub Association reveal that in the past 12 months, 2,377 pubs called time on trading (52 closures a week!), causing 24,000 job losses and leaving a chasm in many small communities where the local boozer was traditionally a place to meet and interact as well as sup a pint or two.

The smoking ban, tax hikes on alcohol and changes to the Licensing Act have all contributed to the decline with the recession being the final nail in the coffin for many. People are opting to stay at home instead and crack open a tinny – when my local charged £2.85 for a pint of lime and lemonade last week, you can kind of understand it – however, pubs are as much a part of the British culture as fish and chips and Coronation Steet and some closures are generating social repercussions on a par to the Post Office closures of 2007/08.

Imagine, where would the residents of the Street be without the Rovers? How would Dot Cotton cope without her daily tomato juice and a gossip at The Queen Vic? Some residents like those in Mersham, Kent are getting physically hands on in the quest to save their local, doing everything from investing cash in the Farriers Arms to installing new plumbing after the sudden departure of the previous landlord.

Pubs offering food are faring better but then you generally can’t take your whippet into those or keep your pewter jug behind the bar or sneak a cheeky lock-in. It’s these curious freedoms that make our British boozers great and we should cherish them as extensions of our own home, stained patterned carpets and all.

Organising a p*** up in a brewery

The age old saying goes, “you couldn’t organise a p*** up in a brewery”, well don’t fear, because neither can a beer festival.

In a turn of events that no one saw coming, the Beer on the Wye festival, which is the Herefordshire Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) annual event now in its fifth year, ran completely dry of beer and food, a day early.

Extra provisions of 18 barrels were delivered as an emergency but the Sunday session had to be called off due to overwhelming demand.

Whilst this is was a major disappointment for the organisers and festival goers at the time, the amount of coverage across many sites and news stories will do the popularity of the festival the world of good.

You can guarantee next year that despite some jokes at its expense, it will be one of the better known beer festivals outside of its local community, and this is proof that out of adversity can come light!

From the brink of collapse…

Sky News has just broken a story that details the accounts posted by Gordon Ramsey Holdings to Companies House.

You can read the full story here.

To sum up, over the past year GRH has seen profits fall to just £383k from over £3m, with net debt rising from £4m to £9.5m.

We have written about the massive programme of expansion Ramsey embarked upon throughout 2007/08, which coupled with the recession has certainly has played a part in the demise of the brand.

What is very interesting however, is right at the end of the story. GRH has to an extent been saved by Ramsey’s book deals and TV contracts, which have undoubtedly allowed the company to survive the first half of 2009. And the article hints at the signs of some sort of recovery for the business. Income is expected to grow into next year, and service resuming at Petrus and Savoy Grill.

Do we spy the faint shoots of economic recovery in the midst of this story? Is our industry on the brink of some brighter days? It is obviously way to early to tell, but it’s nice to hear something positive for a change hey!