Francis Patton: Working together as an industry

Twenty-two years ago, when I started as a graduate trainee with a vertically integrated brewer called Allied Breweries, the UK had around 60,000 pubs, with regional brewers and the independent freetrade accounting for about half that number.

The view then was that this number was unsustainable, competition was limited, the off-trade was a big threat, cask ale was a pub's USP and food was the way forward.

The then-Tory government decided to legislate through the Beer Orders to break the stranglehold of the big brewers and increase consumer choice.

Today, we still have around 60,000 pubs, the regionals and freetrade still make up just under half that number, we still think this number is unsustainable, the off-trade remains a threat, cask remains the USP, and food is still seen as the way forward.

So does anything change? I would say "yes", and mainly for the better. The Beer Orders grew competition and consumer choice, although the unintended consequence was the rise of the pubco. And the product mix has changed, as has the customer profile, which is more eclectic.

The industry was less professional then. Today, thanks to great work from sterling bodies like the BII and the Association of Licensed Mulitiple Retailers, the industry provides attractive opportunities for entrepreneurs to run their own businesses.

Quality has improved in terms of pub standards, the people and the product. Power has moved from manufacturing to property, with asset values providing the catalyst for that radical change. Funding has migrated to private equity and securitisation.

We have seen the growth of 'super' regional brewers which replicate the very model employed by the companies I began with. And there's been commendable work from smaller regional and independent brewers.

However, I feel part of an industry under siege. Government continues to legislate and soon the nanny state will control everything we do. Licensees spend too much time form-filling and less time in their pubs with their customers. The media increasingly portrays a dysfunctional society and an industry with little interest in the social wellbeing of its customers, while minority interest groups harangue us from every front.

Yes, the industry has its challenges. But I believe the vast majority of today's pubs, licensees and pubcos provide a safe, responsible environment where customers can enjoy themselves - it's the way the 'local' has supported communities for centuries. So lay off and let us do what we do well.

What of the future? In the short term the smoking ban will increase pressure on an industry already suffering from a poor media image, increasing costs from the raft of bureaucracy Government has introduced, a credit squeeze and poor weather. But in the long term it will improve pubs, both as leisure venues and workplaces.

We need to work together as an industry to promote pubs and fight an incessant barrage of negativity. We need to tackle irresponsible pricing from supermarkets, and their failure to accept responsibility for the problems they create by selling beer cheaper than water to drive footfall.

Despite these issues, I still think the future is bright. I believe our local pubs will continue to adapt and evolve in the post-smoking era. I look forward to regular visits to my local, supping a pint of hand-crafted, cask conditioned beer, while putting the world to rights among friends under the watchful eye of my local licensee.

Francis Patton, former customer services director of Punch Taverns, is currently a non-executive director of Cains Beer Company​