Kris Hopkins, Conservative Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, had a difficult morning chatting to Manchester City Council about how best to run services for vulnerable people in the midst of vicious ConDem Government cuts.
Hopkins' department is responsible for axing huge wads of money for local councils, and, on any other day, he'd metaphorically have his head taken off and stuck on a pole at Salford's Civic Centre. But today, the only head anyone is bothered about is the one on the pint he's just pulled at Broughton's Star Inn.
"I'm local government minister but a really important part of that is community pubs, and we want to keep as many as we can open" he says "I've been to the city council this morning and met the deputy Chief Executive about delivering key services but every town I go to, I want to pop into a great little pub like this and give it a bit of a boost. This is what every community needs, a place to go and have a mellow drink and a sound pint – and it is a great pint, despite the fact that I pulled it myself.
"I've heard today about the history of the place, dating back to the 1860s, and that it's right in the middle of the community" he adds "And that local people thought it was a really important thing to save, and put their hands in their pocket and through people giving their own time up it has been sustained. I'm sure it will go from strength to strength. Though I think the beer should stay at the same strength if I'm honest!"
Visiting the local community pub after a hard day's slashing services must be a great job if you can get it – a ministerial pub crawl?
"There's four hundred community pubs across the country so it could be a ministerial pub crawl but the key thing about it is that pubs are a really important part of British culture" he deadpans "It employs tens of thousands of people and as a tax earner it's a really important part of the economy too – if I get the privilege to drink a nice pint and promote a local business then I'll do that."
There are around 31 pubs a week shutting down all over the country. In Salford evidence is all over the place, from the Racecourse Hotel to The Flat Iron, and within spittoon range from the Star Inn there are at least half a dozen pubs that have disappeared, ranging from The House That Jack Built to The Horseshoe.
"Each community is different and local demographics affect that" Hopkins explains "I know that different communities come in, businesses change, factories were there in the past which sustained local pubs, all those sort of things can influence the viability of it. But the key thing is good customer service, a nice place to go into, beer, friendliness, and pubs need to go out there and invite people to come in. That's what makes it work...
"…And also the fact that we've been able to reduce some of the business tax and rates on small businesses, and the fact that the tax on beer's come down a bit…" he adds getting a political plug in there.
But isn't it mainly that people can't afford to go to a pub any more? "People make choices about what they want to do" he responds "Some people can't afford to make the right choices because they want to make sure there's a meal on the table and that's the right thing to do. And, as the economy grows and as people get a job - I see unemployment has fallen again - people get a choice on that bit extra that's left over at the end of the week. And a pint is a good way of spending it. I'm privileged to come here."
Hopkins chatted with brewers, bar staff and board members about the success of the Star Inn, which celebrates its fifth anniversary in October, and also met Lee Simpson, Chair of the community board, to discuss the challenges such pubs face.
"The point of his visit was to fact find and I think the Plunkett Foundation pointed him in our direction because we're completely different from rural community pubs which might have either provision for food, passing trade or that community ethos where they've got the post office or shops within them" Lee explains "We're unique in that we're a traditional back street pub with no passing trade, no tourist trade, we're not in the city centre, and there's a diverse orthodox Jewish population…
"We have a huge challenges" he adds "We're tight in land, in available space, we're in a conservation area, we can't do anything too loud because we've got residents at the back, we can't close the street off because of the gradient and cobbles…there's constant challenges, and he agreed to visit to see the challenges and to see what we've done."
Lee talked about the problems of the current tax revenue model, as well as the practical issues of the pub but, at the end of the day, this was incredibly positive recognition that the Star Inn has survived and thrived.
"Any visitors who bring awareness of what we've done is a good thing" says the Inn's manager Vicki Highes "Business is not too bad, it's steady and that's all we wanted it to be, we didn't want to make millions."
And board member Megan Price agrees "I think it's good that they're getting out of London and coming to see us on the ground in Salford" she says "We've got some great future plans and we're about to get the word out about the events for our fifth birthday in October and our annual beer festival."
All agreed that the meeting with the Tory minister in one of Labour's staunchest heartlands was a success – a great heads up for the ace pub.
Further details of the fifth anniversary events to follow.
• See also previous Salford Star articles on the Star Inn – click here and click here
For more details on the Star Inn see its website - click here
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
(3).jpeg)
.png)
(1).JPG)
