Pub is the Hub advises and helps communities, rural, owners and suppliers to make a positive impact in responding to and supporting the needs of their local communities by using available space or initiatives including pubs for the co-location of necessary local services, sharing overheads and articulating their specialist needs.
Pub is the Hub has evolved as a voluntary initiative, initially inspired by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, in his role as President of Business in the Community to encourage owners or good licensees, local communities and authorities to work together to help support, retain and improve access to essential local services and suppliers and often help improve the viability of a range of facilities themselves.
Pub is the Hub is an ‘Independent Not for Profit Advisory body assisted in its initial formation through the in-kind affiliation and support of the rural action team of Business in the Community, together with the Post Office, associated industries and other development agencies, county councils and suppliers interested in using space in pubs or other rural properties for the support and access to social enterprise services.
The main driver has been to get everyone to work together as a collective partnership, regardless of their background and also seek to use other properties (as well as a pub) as “hubs”, particularly if the local pub may already have closed and use the combined industry experience to advise on strategic initiatives.
As well as looking for innovative ways to ensure rural services remain relevant to the needs of their local communities, in some instances, village communities acting as co-operatives have acquired their own local pub, to ensure it is retained as a centre of services for their local area.
It is against this background, of over 350 projects completed in the past six years, supported by a National Steering Panel and Regional Advisory Hubs that independent status has been recommended.
Pub is the Hub by itself is totally about supporting diversification and is not a preservation group (this is left to others e.g. CAMRA) but it seeks to encourage social enterprise and diversification where these particularly can deliver viability in supporting many rural services or activities, which are either under threat or may have recently ceased trading. Involvement with the local authority, planners and communities needs to be handled in a sensitive and confidential manner and any potential conflicts are assessed and discussed with Pub is the Hub.
Summary of Activities
- Creation of a National Steering Panel and 7 Regional Advisory Hubs (Midlands, North West/Cumbria, Yorkshire/North East, South West, South East, Wales and East Anglia)
- Supporting sustainable rural services and local supplies for local communities and licensees.
- Encouraging and advising at local levels to make projects happen with involvement by the community and relevant local authorities
- Simplify the range of contacts and improve the current range of revenue funding support available to be able to launch other Regional Advisory Hubs (e.g. West Country and Scotland). We do not currently have capital grants for projects itself but seek to leverage these locally.
- Share project knowledge, innovative ideas and experience nationally, with research and evaluation of data to improve awareness of the benefits of projects to the local community.
- Work in partnership with licensees, local suppliers of services, regional development agencies and other government and local authority bodies to make individual projects sustainable, support local sourcing and help with reducing environmental impacts.
- Benefit from the national experience and mentoring opportunities of over 350 projects completed and support circa 60 enquiries per month for advice (via website www.pubisthehub.org.uk)
- Encourage the strategic use of associated property with the leisure and drinks industry to support other rural related projects e.g., recognising local sourcing, plough to plate, and affordable rural housing and other community needs.
- Ensure there is a code of conduct for how the future of rural services involving pubs or other premises is dealt with by industry and owners.
- Maintain an effective web site to ease communication and availability of information for all interested parties.
