Why choose the co-operative pub model?

Here is a bit more information that you will need to think about and talk over with your community:

How can a Co-operative Pub succeed where others have failed?

  • No Co-operative Pub has closed to date.  Overall it is clear that communities are keener to support a venture that they feel they have ownership of and a say in how it is run.  It is their pub and therefore they will feel more committed to supporting it.
  • Staff costs can be reduced through volunteer involvement.  Most Co-operative Pubs appoint a tenant or employ a manager but a contribution of volunteer time also ensures that a wide range of tasks are achieved - from serving in the bar to helping with the accounts.
  • The difficulty of finding affordable and suitable premises can be overcome by co-locating with other community services like the local shop.
  • If a significant amount of the start up funding required have been raised through Community Shares, there is a lower debt to service and so rents can be set at a lower level.

A typical Co-operative Pub

• Is profitable
• Has a tenant or manager
• Uses volunteers for a variety of tasks
• Co-locates with other important local services

Why open a Co-operative Pub?

Some of the main benefits of a Co-operative Pub are that they are:

• a way of bringing the community behind a local pub

• a straightforward model for local people to invest in the business

• a way of recruiting local people as members, turning people from passers by into loyal regulars

• a culture that has customer feedback built in

• a democratic model based on one member, one vote

• a business based on community values

• an approach with a track record of success

The financial rewards of running a local pub can be small for publicans – long hours and low returns combined with high rental costs and debts from high purchase prices have led to pubs closing at a rate of 2,500 per year. 

The value of a pub to a community is not often not fully realised until it closes or is threatened with closure.  Increasingly communities have become more determined to do something and take action and the Co-operative Pub model provides some real advantages for communities.

The economic benefits

A Co-operative Pub will employ and serve local people and visitors throughout the year helping to ensure that money stays within the local economy and community.  Local suppliers and contractors can also be used to supply goods and services.

Once a Co-operative Pub has established a sustainable income, the community may feel confident to take on the management of other services or expand what they already offer within the pub depending on the needs of their community.

The social benefits

The advantages of having a pub in a community reach far beyond the food and drink they sell and the services they support and supply. Pubs are important meeting places and they are a vital social and economic hub.  Co-operative ownership means that the pub will be in the hands of the local community whose only interest is to keep it as a pub rather than redevelop it or convert it into a private house.  The community will therefore have a pub as long as it wants one.

Pubs help to create a sense of community, and for those who use them regularly, they can provide a venue where people can get to know their neighbours. This is especially important for vulnerable or isolated groups in society such as older people, carers and people who live alone. Recognising neighbours and having the opportunity to interact helps individuals to develop a sense of belonging and safety.

Pubs can provide a drop-off and collection point for a wide range of services and this is helpful for disabled people or those with limited access to transport. Pubs are a focal point and often help to promote and sell tickets for other local activities, amenities and events as well as providing information for people in the village and visitors or passing trade.

A report from the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) on the social value of community pubs highlighted that pubs are:

• the most popular place where people can mix socially with others from different backgrounds
• a great supporter of charity, with over £3,000 raised per pub every year
• outside of the home the most popular place for people to meet their neighbours
• a place for people to make new friends- more than one in five pub goers has made a new friend in a pub in the past six months.

The environmental benefits

Local pubs help to reduce the distance people and goods travel on the road, especially when people can access a range of good and services.  Buying local supports the local economy, saves food miles, reduces the need for excessive packaging and helps the environment.

And finally…

Communities that have set up a Co-operative Pub will tell you that the path ahead can be a challenging one, but the hard work is rewarding. There will be differences of opinion (to varying degrees) within the management committee and within the wider community. There will be pressures for urgent and difficult decision-making. There will be unforeseen expenses and obstacles. But it is a path that can lead to an exciting, rewarding and extremely worthwhile new enterprise, something to which each community will testify to.