Chris Jowsey: the pubs boss lobbying to keep locals in business
As the summer drew to a close, Chris Jowsey’s reserves of Geordie good humour evaporated and he finally ran out of patience.
The boss of the 1,000-strong pub chain Admiral Taverns, along with fellow industry leaders, had been sounding the alarm for months about the energy crisis hurtling towards small businesses like a freight train, calling on ministers to come up with a plan.
Then, as pubs renewed their energy contracts and were quoted five or six times what they had paid before – or refused supply altogether – it would soon be too late.
“We raised this issue with ministers over six months ago: we told them there’s an energy crisis and that it would be really difficult.”
Landlords warned ministers that 70% of the UK’s 47,000 pubs could ultimately be driven under, and still nothing was forthcoming.
As the Tory party leadership contest dragged on, things only got worse.
“There’s been a complete vacuum for eight or 10 weeks and it feels as if the people who can make a difference have their eyes somewhere else,” Jowsey says.
“Having lobbied away behind closed doors, not getting anywhere, we decided we had to go public.”
Under the auspices of their trade body, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), brewing and pub bosses – Jowsey among the most vocal – called on the government to impose an energy cap for small businesses, to prevent a catastrophic winter in an industry still reeling from successive Covid-19 lockdowns.
Energy costs have moved above the average £20,000 a year that he charges publicans to rent the premises Admiral owns.
“If a small community pub was paying £15,000 a year, it’s now going above £50,000. That’s above the profit they’re making, so effectively the pub will close. There has to be a short-term
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