TV licensee calls for more pub rate relief

A licensee who has helped five communities save their locals in a TV show has called for more rate relief for struggling pubs — particularly the last in a village.

Jay Smith, who stars in UKTV's Save Our Boozer, told the Morning Advertiser​ that cost pressures were biggest concern for pubs, including rates, rents and alcohol duty.

"The measures that have been broadly wrapped up as targeting 'Binge Britain' have had a sharp impact on village pubs that were definitely not the target."

He added: "There's going to have to be some sort of rate relief, or opportunity to reimburse those operators if they are the last in the village."

The show sees Smith leading teams of communities, all volunteers, to revamp and re-open closed down pubs before choosing whether to take them on for good.

In one shocking case, the Greyhound in Grizebeck, Cumbria, was taking just £586 per month. It eventually increased this 10-fold.

Smith said the biggest mistake was "misunderstanding how far the message had to be pushed to get customers through the door".

There was a "degree of hesitation" and lack of organisation around putting events together, such as quiz nights and other entertainment.

"The idea that you can open your doors and expect people to come doesn't work any more."

Smith, who runs two independent bars called Monty's in York and Harrogate, revealed that attempts to secure pubco sites for the show proved unsuccessful.

"Some of the bigger tied operators weren't overly welcoming of the TV company visiting to install the community to run the pub," he said. "I don't think they understood the concept."

Save Our Boozer, part of the Blighty series, begins on Tuesday 8 December at 8pm.