Takings were falling. Regulars were drifting away. Our pub was in a bad way. It was clear that things needed to change. But, paralysed by fear of an employment tribunal in a legal system tilted against employers, we felt trapped. If we sacked the managers and replaced them, we could find ourselves embroiled in a messy legal case that could cost us everything. So, drowning in paperwork, warnings, hearings, improvement plans, and risk assessments, we endured. Running a pub felt less like hospitality than surviving a siege of bureaucracy.

That was when I saw it. This wasn’t just one bad incident. Our beloved pub was being strangled in red tape. We’re not alone. It’s as if publicans can’t be trusted to behave like adults. No wonder so many pubs are closing.

Pubs are Britain’s weathervane: where they go, the country follows

This year, I’ve conducted three exit interviews for staff who hadn’t committed egregious sins, merely chafed at being managed. One barmaid, asked to wash her hands after smoking, kicked up a fuss; I was advised to draft a ‘performance improvement plan’. Another left after ‘verbal feedback’ was deemed too direct. Each departure is logged in the compliance file, alongside training records, grievance forms, and recorded conversations. A new administrative layer now defines pub life.

Ask any landlord, and the tale repeats: it’s not just beer prices or energy bills killing us. It’s the culture of fear, the sense that you cannot act, speak plainly, or decide without consulting a policy. We’ve........

© The Spectator