how one pub is tackling its drinkers feeling 'lonely'

Pub owner Beth Robinson said the role boozers play in local communities has changed post-Covid (Picture: Dave Charnley Photography)

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It is last orders for independent pubs in the UK. In the first half of 2025,209 pubs in England and Wales were demolished or repurposed – and more are likely to shut by the end of the year.

Beth Robinson,41,who runs The Beeswing Inn in East Cowton,Yorkshire,knows all too well about this heartbreak – as she warned that the role that they play has changed since the pandemic.

She believes that boozers are now being more of a social ‘hub’ for punters.

Beth told Metro: ‘Since Covid it’s been a bit of an uphill battle with fewer people coming in and the changing role we’ve played in communities during the pandemic has stuck.

‘It’s changed how people use pubs,what people need from pubs and how people look at us in terms of what we deliver.

‘I’ve always been very community based – but coming out of Covid what the community were looking for did change somewhat and how they saw us changed.

‘It’s a totally different industry to pre-Covid times. It feels like a very different business model to before.’

She said the added pressure of the cost-of-living crisis on the average Brit has caused a ‘huge downturn in business’ and that ‘it’s only getting harder’.

New data from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) shows pub closures are leaving people lonelier and more disconnected from their communities – with more than half of Brits fearing the loss of their local.

The Beeswing Inn in East Cowton,Yorkshire (Picture: Mark J.Smith)

One in three are concerned about pub closures in their area,the survey of 2,000 adults found,with over half (55%) of Gen Z in particular saying pubs are vital for tackling loneliness and isolation.

In the North of England 71% agree pubs are vital for tackling loneliness and isolation – followed by 62% in London,with two in five saying they or someone they know has experienced increased loneliness as a direct result of losing their local.

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‘As the survey suggests,the cost of standing by and watching pubs close will be measured in even greater isolation and the fracturing of our communities.’