Tom Kerridge, the celebrated chef behind Buckinghamshire's two-Michelin-starred pub The Hand and Flowers, has expressed hopes that Jeremy Clarkson's new venture into the pub trade will shed light on the industry's difficulties.
Clarkson, the outspoken star of Clarkson's Farm, recently revealed his purchase of The Windmill, a countryside pub near Burford in Oxfordshire, for "less than £1 million". He intends to serve his own Hawkstone lager and produce from his Diddly Squat Farm.
Kerridge, speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain, said: "It's very, very difficult operating a pub...Jeremy will come up against the issues and the problems that there are and talk about it and use his voice for good reason." He hopes Clarkson's experience will mirror the success of his farming show in highlighting the challenges of the industry.
Kerridge emphasised the financial pressures faced by pubs, stating: "Even if it's busy and packed on a Saturday night, the profit margin is very, very small." He believes Clarkson's venture will offer a valuable insight into the realities of running a pub, from the need for consistent weekday trade to the challenges of managing costs and revenues.
Kerridge himself has called for a VAT cut for the hospitality industry, stating that the temporary reduction during the pandemic was "the key to survival". He believes a reduction to 10% would be "amazing" for the industry, allowing for reinvestment in skills and staff training.
The chef warned that "thousands and thousands of restaurants [and] pubs" are closing every year and that a VAT cut could be the difference between "survival and closure".
Clarkson's pub venture is set to become a real-life case study of the challenges facing the hospitality industry. Whether it will lead to changes in policy remains to be seen, but it is sure to generate considerable interest and debate.
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