0:00
I can't honestly say we had a particularly great rush
0:03
over the Christmas period this year. I think Father Christmas has probably flown straight past
0:10
the chimney of hospitality this year, and he's forgotten us a little bit, I think
0:15
But not looking too great to sort of save us. It's an important time for us to sort of gather the acorns
0:22
for the cold months. So I think it's pretty unlikely. It sounds gloom and doom, but I think it's fairly unlikely, if I'm honest
0:31
I'm so sorry to hear that, Guy. And obviously, I love the pub
0:35
And I love the pub for so many reasons, because it is the cornerstone of British culture
0:41
It's the cornerstone of our politics. It's where we go to discuss ideas, to talk to our friends, to meet our families, to have a warm meal, to have a pint and just let our hair down
0:51
What can the government do to help you? That's a hard one, isn't it
1:00
What could they do to help us I think if they just actually actually stopped and listened to what we talking about listen to the problems listen to why we in this current situation we in
1:12
this isn't just this government, in fairness. This has been building up for a number of time now, a period of time now
1:20
COVID certainly hasn't helped us. But realistically, if this government set themselves the task of sitting down with people
1:29
actually out and about working, running, owning and operating pubs and restaurants and hotels and find out exactly where these pinches are
1:39
And these pinches are quite severe now. I think it might give them half a chance
1:43
My concern is there's a lot of talk about, are we going this or are we going to do that
1:48
And in the future, it's going to be this. We're hand to mouth. Indeed
1:52
There's no sort of delving into the secret coffers in this industry
2:00
We're already sort of pulling on them now. Yeah, Guy, there's a campaign at the moment
2:05
I was speaking to a landlord Adam Brooks and I sure if you watched GB News you will know of the man He has banned Labour MPs from his pub Is this part of a growing movement now to show disdain for the state of affairs that the government have left pubs in
2:20
Of course, we know that these tax release will end in April, which will add additional pressure, not only to you
2:26
but of course a lot of the costs will be passed on to punters, who are also having a difficult time
2:32
at least with their own economics, and unemployment is rising and money is hard to come by at the moment
2:36
And would you get on board? Have you got on board with this banning of MPs campaign
2:40
And what do you make of it? Already part of it, Alex. I think I was possibly right sort of at the front of the queue
2:47
when it came down to banning Labour MPs, MPs in general, really
2:53
But not necessarily en masse. Yeah, it's a tricky one, isn't it
3:01
The hospitality section is getting squeezed and squeezed and squeezed in terms of profit
3:08
How much can we pass on? The thing is the only realistic thing we can and it is a realistic thing we can do just to keep increasing prices isn the way forward An accountant would say it is but an operator would say it isn because people have only got that finite amount of money
3:27
to spend these days. They keep saying, we want more, we want more. What we're having to do is
3:33
we're having to really, really tighten our belts. In terms of staffing, particularly
3:38
in terms of energy costs. Every corner we're looking in, we're looking to make a saving
3:45
Yeah, indeed. Well, Guy, thank you so much for joining me on Christmas Day today
3:49
I hope for a Christmas miracle for you and our great landlords up and down the country
3:55
As I said, I believe that pubs are a cornerstone of Great Britain and we will not be the same country
3:59
without the hard work that you do. And thank you for being such great servants
4:04
to all of us here in Britain over the years. and we will, of course, be talking about this story a lot more
4:09
Guy Richardson of the Bright Star in Peters Green. Get yourself down there if you're living in the local area
4:15
Thank you, Guy. Merry Christmas. Take care. Thank you. Merry Christmas. Very briefly from you guys, if you don't mind
4:21
The pub's so important, isn't it, Sarah? Because we talk about everything
