05 May 2023

Pubs, pints and ‘permacrisis’ - part 2: reorientation toward collective rural resilience

Jennifer Boddy

PhD Researcher

Jennifer Boddy

PhD Researcher
  • Home
  • Blog
  • 2023
  • May
  • Pubs, pints and ‘permacrisis’ - part 2: reorientation toward collective rural resilience

Despite the challenges presented in the first part of this blog, many pubs remain optimistic despite uncertainty, reports Jennifer Boddy, PhD researcher. As such, these spaces may be prominent examples in the case to represent rural areas as opportunity spaces where creative practices should be fostered and facilitated.

Community is key to confidence

While many opportunities for reorientation were cited in conversations with publicans in rural Northumberland last summer, the key consideration that emerged was that any change in focus must preserve a sense of connection to the locality and the necessary sense of traditional British culture associated with beer, socialising, ‘pub scran’ and community cohesion. There are a few contemporary factors that have facilitated the preservation of such social value:

  • Community cohesion remains strong: The pandemic seems to have reinforced to both business owners and communities that supporting local is more important than ever, and thus the cultural significance of ‘the regular’ patron at ‘the local’ pub remains a key pillar in sustaining the on-trade in rural areas.
  • Short supply chains make pubs more adaptable to unpredictability: While the cost of sourcing locally seems to vary significantly between pubs due to the networks available to them, all pubs in the study actively chose to source local meat, veg, and beer while many expand even further into baked goods, coffee, gin, through to the soap in their bathrooms. While these actions are undeniably morally motivated, publicans have found that being sociable and mutually supportive with local suppliers fosters an ecosystem of understanding, co-operation and social responsibility. Furthermore, while pubs have noted issues around hiring and retaining staff, there is evidence that local employees are willing and able to be flexible and learn new skills on the job due to personal attachments to the business.
  • The pub is the hub: From village WhatsApp group chats to supporting international shooting events, publicans have networks that stretch far and wide and are readily available to tap into when times get tough. Whether it’s catering for guests that a wedding venue has referred, having visitors from Singapore at the bar after a long day shooting, or hosting a community celebration, as will no doubt be the case this weekend for the King’s Coronation, pubs are at the heart of supportive networks that continually foster their multifunctionality and adaptability.
Coronation Crop

Futureproofing for an adaptable, community-oriented Northumberland

Across all types of rural businesses, NICRE’s first business survey in 2021 found that resilience was exhibited during the pandemic through myriad innovative adaptations. However, the overwhelming consensus among Northumberland’s publicans is that we are still operating through crisis, not beyond it, and continue to suffer the effects of ‘permacrisis’. That said, publicans are forward-looking and reorienting to create adaptable futures that serve their communities. The goal of resilience, it seems, is as much attached to preserving community vibrancy as it is ensuring financial viability of these businesses themselves. Despite very serious challenges and losses which should not be diminished by this optimism, some key outcomes can be suggested for the road ahead.

  • Adaptability is the best adaptation: While adaptation and adaptability are often proposed dialectically, Northumberland’s pubs seem to be adjusting their business operations and physical structures to fit an ever-changing set of economic and social needs. The introduction of food trucks in pub car parks to replace in-house food service is just one of the creative and flexible activities on the horizon in Northumberland. Research commissioned by NICRE and being undertaken by the University of Lincoln into pubs as co-working spaces is a perfect example of the potential of pubs to create adaptable spaces equipped for changing geographies of work and consumption.
  • Collective resilience is simply sensible: The overwhelming consensus among publicans is that if the hotel down the road closed and the local butcher was no longer viable then shortly after there would be no pub to go to. Producing menus, events, and standard business procedures that actively support and promote other local businesses means the long-term benefit will be collective: spending will stay local, communities are cohesive, and the local economy is able to thrive.
  • Local knowledges are key to supportive policy: Although it can be overlooked, there is significant entrepreneurial energy outside of urban areas that should be fostered and encouraged through proper funds and advice. While some such policy and funding exists, publicans’ knowledge of this support is patchy and there is some lack of trust in local and national government to provide applicable support that makes use of place-specific opportunities. However, such policies must not overburden already disadvantaged communities and instead rely on their knowledges to create more functional support structures.

Related items

Loading...