October 2022 digital edition

The
Bevy
The community
pub finding ways
to mix it up in
response to the
cost of living
crisis
By Alice Toomer-McAlpine
As we head into winter amid a cost of living
crisis, many of us will be thinking of ways to
tighten our belts and cut spending, perhaps by
staying in more and foregoing trips to the pub.
Businesses across the hospitality industry are
experiencing similar challenges, as they face
soaring costs and feel the pinch of consumers’
shrinking budgets.
One such business is co-operative pub the
Bevy, in Brighton. The pub’s chair, Warren
Carter, explains some of the difficulties it
has been facing due to increased costs and
lower footfall.
“We’re always looking at cutting costs,” he
says. “But our biggest cost is wages and we’re
a Brighton Living Wage employer, so people get
over 10 quid an hour to work with us. Instead,
we’ve had to cut down on hours. On Saturdays,
we don’t open until 3pm now unless there’s an
Albion game, just because it was so quiet.
“We’re talking about just closing totally on a
Monday now, having no groups or anything. Just
try not to open the door, try not to put on lights.”
The Bevy recently released an online statement
addressing the cost of living crisis, but the focus
was less on the problems it faces as a business,
and more on what it is offering its community,
from lunch clubs and school uniform repair
to free kids’ activities. Despite the immense
challenges the Bevy is facing, it does have one
ace up its sleeve that it is leveraging for the good
of its business and its customers: its status as a
community-owned pub.
“It’s very worrying, but on the flip side, I
think we’re lucky because we are communitybased,”
says Carter. It was bought by local
residents in 2014 after four years of closure, and
ever since has acted as a hub for the benefit of
the community. “Basically we’re a community
centre where you can have beers.”
During the summer holidays, the Bevy hosted
a series of free kids’ events with activities and
free food and drink for the children. Carter
describes that kind of work as “part of our DNA”,
which provides a win-win for the Bevy and its
customers. The pub is able to access funding to
run community events, which benefits locals, as
well as increasing footfall in the pub.
“We know we need to offer this so people can
afford to come to the pub,” says Carter. “We’ll get
grants to do free holiday stuff and free kids’ parties
and things.
“Rather than a day out being £40 or £50 with
a load of children, you could either come and
spend nothing, or you can go, ‘You know what, I
can actually afford to have a couple of beers. My
children are having a nice time.’”
As well as events, the Bevy has been looking
at creative ways they can make it easier for cashstrapped
punters to enjoy a drink with them,
including changing its beer supplier to enable
them to offer a £4 pint.
The Bevy also embraces partnership work
with other aligned organisations, such as East
Brighton Food Co-op, which delivers meals
to vulnerable people in the area, and who are
moving into the Bevy’s kitchen to work together.
38 | OCTOBER 2022