Save Our pubs

Tom Kerridge on his very personal mission to revive a struggling industry…

- STEVEN PERKINS

SAVING BRITAIN’S PUBS WITH TOM KERRIDGE NEW THURSDAY / BBC2 / 8PM / EP 1 of 3 / FACTUAL

The great British pub has long been considered at the heart of our communities, but times are incredibly tough for publicans. Since 2000, over a quarter of premises have closed permanently, and of those that survived, many are finding it hard to keep up with rising rents and business costs.

For his brand-new BBC2 series, Saving Britain’s Pubs with Tom Kerridge, the Michelin-starred chef – himself the landlord of two pubs in Marlow, Buckinghamshire – planned to visit four struggling premises across the country and help find ways to make the businesses more profitable.

What Tom hadn’t bargained on, however, was that midway through filming the three-parter, the nation would go into lockdown – and he’d be fighting to save his own pubs, too.

Here, Tom, 47, tells TV Times more about the eventful process…

How did you feel when you heard about the dire situations that the country’s pubs were in?