For an industry that thought it had reached a low point with the Covid crisis of 2020, the following four years have proven to be quite the lesson and one we’d probably have preferred to have skipped.
It could be easy to focus on the negatives - the successive Government failure to recognise the importance of the hospitality sector, the spiralling costs of employment and supplies, the unnecessary strike actions that have hammered successive Christmases - but as Chris Jowsey, the boss of Admiral Taverns pointed out the other day - we’re in the business of fun, and we need to remember that.
It’s exceptionally hard out there at the moment and likely to get even harder when the Government turns the screw and the impacts of its godawful budget take effect but this sector is the most resilient one out there - look at what’s been thrown at it and we’re still standing.
We make our own luck
The entrepreneurship, the innovation, the willingness to duck and dive and carve out a niche that can give your business an edge – these are the things we see day in and day out in the pub trade.
As Brewhouse & Kitchen’s Kris Gumbrell said, we’re an industry that makes our own luck, and while we might need a bit of help from a battalion of leprechauns, we need to channel that spirit in 2025.
We’ve had four years of shouting for help while crisis after crisis crashed into us, and the reality is, no one is coming to our aid except ourselves.
So, once again, we need to strap on and step up - it might be a bit like trench warfare at the moment but let’s make 2025 our moment to rise up out of those trenches and start the road to recovery despite all the odds.
Mindset change
Easy to say, I know, but as much as anything, we need a mindset change to help us push real change through the sector.
We are a fantastic, fun, dynamic and innovative industry, and we need to remember that. We also need to communicate that to our teams and to our customers and ride this storm to the end.
I’d like to thank all of you for your support for The Morning Advertiser in 2024, and we look forward to continuing to support you develop and grow your business over 2025.
Have a great Christmas and an even better new year.
