PRESS RELEASE: SUPPORT FOR LOCAL COMMUNITIES TO SET UP COMMUNITY-OWNED PUBS ANNOUNCED
A new support programme has been announced to help local communities to set up and run community-owned pubs. The support programme, led by the Plunkett Foundation, is part of a 12 point action plan announced by Pubs Minister John Healey to give practical support to community pubs up and down the country.
Almost 40 pubs are closing each week leaving many communities without access to a pub. Co-operative-ownership has been a proven success in saving village shops with record numbers opening in 2009. Community-owned shops now save or reopen 10% of village shops closures. This £3.3m support programme will support 50 communities through community-ownership to save their local pub by helping to provide the funding required and the advice and support necessary to open and run a successful community-owned pub.
Peter Couchman, Chief Executive of the Plunkett Foundation, said: “Pubs are vitally important to communities. They provide places where people can come together to socialise and join in a number of community activities. Community-ownership can secure the future of pubs, just as it is doing for village shops, through harnessing the creativity and energy of a whole community. We’re delighted with today’s announcement of the support available to help set up community-owned pubs and this, we believe, will make a real and lasting difference to communities.”
Pubs Minister, John Healey said, “This package of tough, practical measures aims to put some real support behind our community pubs, giving publicans more support to diversify and punters more choice. We need and can do more to support our pubs which can be at the heart of a local community. Today’s measures are a much needed shot in the arm for publicans in these tough times. They will make it easier to diversify, lower costs and cut red tape when it comes to branching out. It is also a boost for local communities, giving them a greater stake in the future of their local pubs often so important in bringing people together. Pubs will receive specialist business support with a direct line through ‘Pub Is the Hub’ for a wide range of business advice and help that is readily available.”
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “This is an exciting way of enabling 50 communities to come together to buy and own their own pub. Communities will be able to use the building to offer other services they want and need, which will improve community cohesion and also provide opportunities for members to gain new skills. It will also create a network of community hubs across England which will act as inspiration to a range of communities, and increase awareness of social enterprise, and mutual approaches to self help within communities.”
The Community-Owned Pubs Programme, led by the Plunkett Foundation and developed with the Office of the Third Sector, will be delivered in partnership with a range of organisations with direct experience of supporting pubs and enabling community-ownership including Pub is the Hub, Co-operative and Community Finance, Co-operativesUK, CAMRA and the Co-operative Development Network.
For further information about this release please contact Mike Perry on 01993 814381 or at mike.perry@plunkett.co.uk.
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Editors’ Notes
The Community-Owned Pubs Support Programme, led by the Plunkett Foundation, will provide support for up to 50 communities to set up and run community-owned pubs over the next three years. The £3.3m programme will provide grants to communities matched with loans from Co-operative and Community Finance and a contribution from the communities themselves. Alongside funding, the programme will provide a range of advice and support to communities to help them through the process of setting up a community-owned pub. The Community-Owned Pubs Support Programme is part of a 12 point action plan announced by Pubs Minister John Healey on 19 March (http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1511255).
The Plunkett Foundation (http://www.plunkett.co.uk/) is a national organisation based in Woodstock, Oxfordshire that helps rural communities through community-ownership to take control of the issues important to them. The Plunkett Foundation runs a range of projects and services supporting rural communities to set up and successfully run community-owned enterprises including community-owned shops.
'Pub is the Hub' (http://www.pubisthehub.org.uk/) is a national advisory body who will act as a business support gateway and the first point of contact for landlords and tenants requiring access to expert business advice on a range of issues that they face.
'Pub is the Hub' is a not for profit business support service and has visibility and credibility with the industry and a track record of supporting over 300 pub based rural services. With Government support of just over £1million over three years to underpin 7 full time advisors, Pub is the Hub can extend their support to cover all areas, providing business advice directly themselves or directing an inquiry onto the most appropriate source, whether Business Link or another agency.
The Plunkett Foundation works with the Office of the Third Sector (http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector.aspx) to promote the role that social enterprise can play in rural communities in England. As part of the Cabinet Office, the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) leads work across government to support the environment for a thriving third sector (voluntary and community groups, social enterprises, charities, cooperatives and mutuals), enabling the sector to campaign for change, deliver public services, promote social enterprise and strengthen communities. The OTS was created at the centre of government in May 2006 in recognition of the increasingly important role the third sector plays in both society and the economy.
The Village CORE Programme (http://www.plunkett.co.uk/whatwedo/core/Core.cfm) is a support programme which has been running for over 3 years. It is managed by the Plunkett Foundation in partnership with the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation (http://www.esmeefairbairn.org.uk/) and Co-operative and Community Finance (http://www.co-opandcommunityfinance.coop/). It provides financial start-up packages and advisory support to communities looking to set up a community-owned rural shop. It has supported 47 new community-owned village shops to date.
In February 2010, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) released figures on the rate of pub closures for the last 6 months of 2009. This is not a problem faced solely by rural communities but also urban and semi-urban communities. The figures show:
• pub closures now running at 39 a week, down on the 52 pubs a week closing in first half 2009
• total of 2,365 pubs closed in 2009
• 24,000 jobs lost in sector in 2009