The history of pub ownership is a long, complex one, as you will no doubt hear from today’s episode with long standing publican Mark Dodds will attest.

Mark, who once ran the Sun & Doves in Camberwell, South London - Time Out Magazine’s runner up for Best Bar of the Year in 1996 as well as a string of other awards - is no stranger to the tied pub system.

Having first hand witnessed the effects of the corporate boot, including being evicted and declared bankrupt, Mark has been passionate pursuing the People’s Pub Partnership - the dream of an ethical and sustain pub company that gives full autonomy to the licensee while maintaining a clear set of values that allow the publican to reinvest into the pub and pull pint after pint of perfectly kept beer.

Sounds utopian doesn’t it?

Pubs have been slowly but surely closing their doors for one last time. And while some have found a new lease of life from local breweries, many have sadly shut up shop, only to become a Metro supermarket or converted into flats.

And with beer cellars literally battening down the hatches and front doors firmly closed for who-knows-how-long due to the global pandemic that is sweeping across the world, how many of our pubs will be wiped off the face of the earth over the coming months and years?

Because if the coronavirus doesn’t kill the vibrant independent pub trade, then perhaps pub companies will!

In this episode, Mark breaks down the complexities surrounding why tenanted pub companies are so bad for the humble pub and offers a more ethical, sustainable alternative.

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