Pubs have long been an integral part of British culture, admired and copied throughout much of the world. Now ironically whilst the opening of “British Pubs” is still increasing abroad, on home ground they appear to be gasping their last.
In the latest, and most spiteful move yet, Labour has issued the 2026 Licensed Property Guidance Note to assist those who will be undertaking the valuation of licensed properties for the purpose of business rates, which Chancellor Rachel Reeves is increasing for the hospitality sector. In what initially looked like an April Fools joke apart from the date, the guidance appears to suggest that the more attractive the premises and location, the more you should charge. Likewise, if the pub is considered to be important to the community – charge more, and ditto if they are serving the sort of food for which people will travel. In other words, if there is any chance of a pub doing well, tax them until they submit and go under. It is utterly mad that a government could hate business success, but here appears to be the evidence.
My concern comes mainly from the lack of regard for cultural traditions, of which there are plenty more examples, but I won’t go into them here. Food is what I write about and nowadays most pubs serve food, although that wasn’t always the case.
The difference between a pub and a restaurant has become blurred since around the 1980s when pubs first began serving food. Before that most were just “drinking dens” frequented mainly by men, and any food offered was eaten stood at the bar. Larger pubs had separate “public” and “saloon” bars. The public bar was for drinking and pub games (another integral part of pub culture). The saloon bar was the only place you might take a woman and gradually it became evident that you could make more money from food served at a table than the drink. Some might say that this started their decline, but there have been many other markers along the route.
When pubs first began serving food it was normally much more homely fare than you would find in a restaurant, which continued to be somewhere you only went on special occasions. Usually, pubs were husband and wife businesses, and often the kitchen side was the wife’s domain. Sunday Roasts were, and remain, the most important meal for a pub to get right. Mastery of the fryer was key to weekdays, with the quality of chips now generally much higher than in the past. They might be served with a steak in the evening or fish at lunchtime, although the Ploughman’s remained the lunchtime staple. Within these narrow choices there was still plenty of scope to prove your worth. Simple food that was done well were what we hoped to find in a pub. In 1991, The Eagle in Clerkenwell, London became the first to use the term “Gastropub”, serving restaurant quality food in a traditional pub setting. The term caught on, and before long most pubs were claiming to be gastropubs, although in most cases it was just an excuse for charging more for their food.
Since the 1980s, pubs have been hit by a succession of legislative changes: extended opening hours, admission of children, smoking ban, tax by alcohol content, bottle tax and, most recently, rises in National Insurance, minimum wage and business rates. In addition to the legislative changes, there has been the need to adapt to social change too, such as younger generations turning away from alcohol and even real-life social interaction, and the decline in traditional pub games such as darts. Pubs have continued to adapt, but financially the sector is on its knees, with the current rate of closure the fastest ever.
Whilst recognizing that all of these changes have taken a toll, the be all and end all of the success of a pub comes down to the landlord and landlady as far as I am concerned. Running a pub was always about far more than just serving food and drink, you needed to know your locals, listen to their woes and provide regular entertainment as well. In fact, the word I want is hospitality, they provided hospitality and this is what is so frequently missing in pubs today.
Most pubs are now owned by a brewery or management chain and will have a manager rather than a landlord. The 2003 Licensing Act recognised this by repealing the requirement licenses to relate to the premises and for the Licensee’s name to be above the pub door. There will be a quicker turnover of license holders and, sadly, usually less interest in the business displayed by a manager than the owner of the business used to have.
From a financial perspective, when the owner doesn’t actually work in the business, they need to generate not only enough income to cover the manager and other staff’s salaries, but also to make their investment worthwhile. Owning a pub becomes just a financial rather than a lifestyle proposition.
One adaptation that is being witnessed is cutting staffing levels back to the bare bones, and in some cases a return to the “husband and wife” businesses that underpinned the glory days. This structure had applied not only to the pub sector here, but also the renowned French neighbourhood restaurants that existed prior to the working hours restrictions brought in there. That particular measure sounded the death knell for excellent food, often from no-choice menus, that had made France the place to eat for decades.
Looking back, I realise that most of my favourite restaurants have, like pubs, been run by “husband and wife” teams. These are the ones I returned to again and again. Now I can think of only one remaining. The Good Food Guide always used to include a list of the longest-standing restaurants, and last published this in 2024. It covered “current Guide-listed restaurants that have been doing business for 20 years or more. Qualification for this list is that the restaurant has had the same owner/chef since opening or has been passed down through the same family.”
47 restaurants were listed, of which 45 are still open in 2026. Longevity of business is a badge of honour that in France and Italy is always proudly displayed as part of the “brand”. We might display it here too, but it is relatively rare. Generally, businesses that are family-owned and run have a 30% chance of being successfully passed to the second generation, although by the third generation this comes down to around 12.5%. Stein’s Seafood Restaurant in Padstow has now notched up 50 years in business under father and wife, then son; whilst the longest running is Talbooth in Dedham, which has been run by the Clarke family since 1952.
Whilst home ownership still stands as an aspiration, if less often a reality, in Britain, business premises are somewhat different. Whilst in general business, Britain is similar to the rest of Europe in the dominance of family-owned firms (around 80%), the ownership of property creates a big difference when it comes to restaurants. In the UK the premises are usually leased rather than owned, especially in city centre locations where constant rebranding is also the norm. Until recently pubs were an exception to this rule with many being owned outright, but now the buildings are mainly owned by large brewery chains or pub management companies. Family businesses used to be able to be inherited without incurring Inheritance Tax, an incentive to pass it from one generation to the next. Since this concession was withdrawn under Rachel Reeves Chancellorship, the consequences have received most attention in relation to farms, but the impact is similar for other businesses too.
As part of the cutting back on staff, pubs and restaurants need also to more carefully target their offering. A tremendous amount of money is wasted trying to be all things to all people, and in some instances, it may actually drive away other customers. The public have got very used to believing that they are King, but now they may have to accept that they just don’t fit the demographic that particular establishment caters for.
For example, whilst many people seem to believe that it is their legal right to take a child into a pub, that isn’t so, the pub merely has a right to allow them in if they so wish, and some are choosing not to. It might include not catering for allergies or special dietary requirements, although of course the legal requirement to state common allergens remains. However, we have already observed a reduction in the number of menus offering vegan food, after finding that the demand for it was actually pretty low. No choice menus cut down on food waste and make it easier for a sole chef to offer their highest standard of cooking. I can remember years ago our local pub being fed up with people dithering over what flavoured crisps people wanted with their drinks. After one particularly prolonged interaction the landlord threw all but one box away and in future when asked what flavours they did replied “plain or ready-salted”!
Another thing that divides opinion quite strongly is allowing dogs in pubs. As with children, the issue is really about behaviour. If all parents/owners abided by the maxim “should be seen but not heard” there might not be such strong opinions for and against. There is a world of difference between a dog sitting quietly under the table and one that sits on their owner’s lap and eats from the table. However, increasingly the bad behaviour of some has led to a ban on all. With children, you can compromise by not offering children’s menus but including them when they are eating from the main menu at the table. Different portion sizes are another way to compromise. Although pasta is normally eaten before the main course in Italy, even there it has become more acceptable to eat it instead of a main course, and in Britain you will sometimes see two different sizes on offer. The number of people on weight-loss jabs is a recent development that has led to a more flexible approach to portion size and a chef friend recently realised that many people were wanting to share meals. Sharing plates are, too me, pretty abhorrent, but it does allow people to work out their own “menu”. The chef in question has decided he needs to rework his offering to accommodate this style of eating. He believes that the driver behind sharing plates was mostly financial, and so he has talked with his butcher about which cut they find difficult to sell and then using his skills to make cheaper cuts attractive to his diners. That is exactly what I want when dining out, not a meal that I could easily have made at home, but one that involved the time and skill of an expert.
Some pubs might decide not to offer food at all, and this seems to be more popular in cities. Apart from food are all sorts of other questions to consider, such as do we take cash (or even only take cash), where do people stand to order drinks (hopefully along the bar, but queuing seems to be becoming more popular).
I’m sure our hospitality sector still has a way to go before the current closure rate improves, but we had become overcrowded with chains offering cooked food cheaper than you could buy the ingredients to make. Of course, there are savings to be made when you buy in bulk, but we need to get back to expecting eating out to be a more special event. Above all, whether pubs or restaurants, they need to remember that the experience has to be one that people want to repeat. I keep recalling the words to the theme of the American sitcom Cheers – “where everybody knows your name, and you’re always glad you came”. Costs nothing, but priceless.
This month’s recipe is inspired by a once popular bar snack of pickled cockles. I recently discovered that they are no longer pickled commercially, such a shame because I like to keep a jar or two in my larder to make Cockle Popcorn. You can make them with fresh cockles, but ready-pickled makes it very easy.
Cockle Popcorn
I first remember being served this appetiser at a hotel on the Gower in Wales, the area being renowned for its cockles. These were simply coated in flour before being deep-fried.
More recently I have been served cockle “popcorn” in Bristol and love the slightly sandy texture of the coating. I found a recipe from Tom Kerridge, which suggest a combination of plain flour, cornflour (to help it stick) and fine cornmeal (for texture). These are the proportions:
45 ml plain flour
30 ml cornflour
20 ml fine polenta/maizemeal
Pinch of sea salt
Coat cooked cockles in this mixture then gently shake in a sieve to remove the excess coating before frying at 180°C for a couple of minutes until lightly coloured.
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