Lets save Britain’s pubs with Tom Kerridge..!

The country’s much-loved boozers need help.

Since 2000, Britain has been losing pubs a rate of around 12 a week.

The reason for this dramatic decline can be blamed on the trend that we are not going out as much.

Cash-strapped drinkers are buying booze from supermarkets to drink at home rather than frequenting their locals, and publicans are struggling with the burden of taxes, rents, rates, wages and the cost of food and drink.

Perhaps most telling of all, inflated property prices can make selling pubs off for housing more profitable than running them as businesses.

This year, with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of establishments closing has gone up even further.

So step forward Tom Kerridge, the presenter of Proper Pub Food, Lose Weight For Good, Top of the Shop, Tom Kerridge’s Fresh Start and Lose Weight And Get Fit, who is on a mission to reverse the worrying trend and revive struggling pubs.

Tom is the chef patron of the two Michelin-starred pub The Hand & Flowers, the one Michelin-starred pub The Coach, and his pub-cum-butcher’s shop, The Butcher’s Tap, all in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. He believes that the British pub is an important part of our national culture and a valuable asset to many local communities.

“When a community loses its pub, it loses its soul,” he says.

“Pubs are a vital part of our history and culture, and communities with a decent pub at their heart are stronger for it because people from all walks of life mix and socialise there. While many local services and shops are closing down, there are clear opportunities for reinventing what a pub can be. I want to work with locals to give them what they most want and need and create a place where they all feel welcome. That’s the foundation for building a pub that will survive. I need to prove that 21st century pubs can serve their communities and thrive.”

Across four episodes, Tom will immerse himself in the fortunes of a pub under threat of closure.

Working with communities and passionate individuals who are determined to save their treasured locals from closure, Tom will lend his extensive experience of the industry and come up with fresh ideas in order to balance the books and provide new motivation to discouraged landlords. His journey begins at The White Hart in Chilsworthy, Cornwall.

Although this 300-year-old free house is the only pub in the village, publicans Amy and Ian are only just scraping a living from it – a familiar story for landlords of rural pubs across Britain. Tom suggests a renovation to capitalise on the stunning views across the Tamar Valley. It would involve costly and disruptive building work, but the couple decide to proceed with the plan. Will it pay off, and can Amy and Ian, with Tom’s help, turn things around before they are forced to call “last orders” at The White Hart for good?

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