2001 was a tough year for rural pubs. Jackie Annett looks at how licensees can make the most of their location this year by offering additional services
As 2002 gets underway, many publicans in rural areas will be hoping for a better year than the last.
With disasters such as foot-and-mouth disease, the bad summer and bank holiday weather and the sharp decline in tourist numbers all hitting business in the past 12 months, the trade is sitting nervously, waiting for what blows 2002 might have in store.
The events of last year hit licensees in rural areas the hardest. Statistics show that six rural pubs are closing every week and that more than half of all villages in England are now without a pub for the first time since the Norman Conquest.
Those rural pubs that remain have found that young drinkers have deserted in their droves, preferring larger town centre bars. To make things worse, tough drink-drive laws have also stopped many people driving to the country pub for a night out.
But the trade has fought back and many licensees have started to offer extra services in order to survive. All over the country, rural pubs have started to double up as post offices and grocery shops, while others have become more involved with their local communities by offering a focal point where villagers can meet.
In July last year, the plight of rural businesses hit the headlines when Prince Charles launched the Community Rural Action Programme. The initiative was set up to try and breathe some life back into rural communities, many of which have lost vital services over the last few years.
The Prince of Wales spoke publicly about how licensees in rural areas could ensure survival by offering other vital village services. He commended licensees who were offering their customers a place to buy a paper, collect their pension and pick up their dry cleaning, as well as a friendly place to enjoy a pint.
Now the Countryside Agency and the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) have teamed up to document some of the success stories of the last year in a guide called The Pub is the Hub. They are hoping that it will provide an incentive for other licensees to tread the same path.
Since Debbie and Michael Prior took over the tenancy for the Craven Heifer Hotel in Stainforth, North Yorkshire, just over a year ago, business has more than doubled.
The pub, owned by Blackburn brewer Daniel Thwaites, is in a small village which has no other pubs or shops serving its close-knit population of 280 people.
The couple, who already ran the post office and the shop, asked the brewer if they could run all three businesses from the pub premises.
Thwaites agreed and the idea has proved a success. The couple have found that they can cross-sell between the pub, post office and shop, which brings added business to all three.
Another success story is that of Nadine and Edward Titcomb, who moved to St Giles on the Heath in Devon three years ago to take over the village shop and post office.
Neither of them had ever run a pub before and it wasn't until they were out drinking with friends one night that they suddenly realised the one thing the village was missing was a friendly local pub.
They gathered support from local villagers and embarked on a British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) course.
Then the couple began to renovate their home to make room for a pub and a tearoom, but this came at a cost.
They sacrificed their living room, dining room, bathroom and some of their kitchen and had to build a car park and knock down their two garages. In total it cost £20,000 but the couple say it was worth every penny.
Nadine told thePublican.com that creating the Pint and Post involved a lot of hard work, but that it was worth it to give something back to the village.
"This village has never had a pub before and it's nice to give the villagers another option. It was absolutely loopy in here over Christmas and New Year - we were packed out. Now obviously it has quietened down quite a bit, but during the week we will still have between 10 and 20 people in here.
"But we're not just a pub. We also have a tearoom where tourists can come in the summer and we have the shop and the post office. We've had to employ three staff, two girls in the shop and a girl that works in the pub on Sundays so that we can have the day off."
The Titcombs will not reap the financial benefits straight away. Both hope to be able to comfortably retire in about 15 years time but enjoy running the little business in the meantime.
In Somerset, Francisco Cardona, licensee of the Waggon and Horses in Doulting Beacon, near Shepton Mallett, runs art exhibitions and music concerts that are very popular with the local community.
And the licensee of the Miners Arms in Brassington, Derbyshire, runs an IT training club in association with Derby University which has got the whole town talking about computers. Many other pubs have started to host lunches for pensioners or hold religious services as a way of bringing communities together.
There are, however, some licensees who are angry that they are expected to offer extra services when they already work very long hours.
They would argue that home-drinking and the popularity of Britain's picturesque villages as a weekend base for the rich leaves many outlets simply un-viable, regardless of how many services the licensee has the time or inclination to offer.
Jan Griffin, commenting on one of thePublican.com's articles said: "It's all very well banging on about rural pubs, but if folk do not want to move off the sofa, because they're intent on watching pubs on soaps, it's hard to do business.
"People in rural villages aren't sitting in their wattle cottages not daring to go further afield - they all have cars, the telly, Tesco's finest and bootleg liquor, the same as everyone else."
But Mark Hastings of the BBPA said most rural licensees were capable of diversifying and could benefit financially if they did. He advised licensees to find out what was missing from their local community.
"The key to successful diversification is to find out what your local community is missing and see if you can fill that gap," he said.
"In many cases it may be a post office or a shop, but in other places it may be something completely different altogether.
"This doesn't necessarily mean working longer hours but working smarter as the case studies show. By following the examples in the book, licensees can learn a lot."
Firstly, licensees who are interested in diversifying should talk to people in the community to find out what services are missing and to gain inhabitants' approval.
Then a trade association such as the BBPA or the BII should be able to help with the best way forward.
Finally, contact your local authority to see if you are entitled to a grant to help you get started and see your business idea through to a fruitful end. Good luck!
Additional services pubs can offer
- meeting place for schools, religious groups, sports groups and OAPs
- shop
- post office
- place to drop off and collect dry cleaning
- video store
- betting office
- bed and breakfast
- café/tea room
- art exhibition space
- concerts/music performances
- training room for IT/other courses
Why rural pubs have suffered
- tougher drink-drive laws
- foot-and-mouth disease
- more competition for the leisure pound
- an increase in home drinking
- September 11 terrorist attacks
- a preference for larger, town centre venues
Advice and help on getting started