Community: The Lifeline for Independent Hospitality

In an era of changing customer attitudes, David Smithson-Rudd explains the critical importance of community engagement in the success of independent hospitality businesses.

The hospitality industry has had a rough ride over the past decade. First came the double-hit of Brexit and COVID-19, which saw around 120,000 EU workers leave the UK hospitality sector (Moore Kingston Smith, 2024). Then came soaring energy prices, a cost-of-living crisis, and changing customer habits. All have stacked pressure on an already fragile industry.

Larger hospitality chains are able to navigate such challenges more easily. Even when a site has to close, they rarely lose all sites together unless the business proposition has become outdated or operationally unsound. Smaller, independent businesses do not have this luxury; many owners have one site, with their livelihoods tied directly to the success of their business.

Many pubs and cafés aren’t just businesses, they’re often third spaces for local residents, and as such, emotional investment in such businesses is often high. Many owners operate on a dangerous assumption: “if we open, they will come”. This is a very outdated mentality, especially when considered alongside the shifting sands highlighted above.

The critical thing independent hospitality business owners need to remember is that the success of their business is highly correlated with how connected the local community feel, now so more than ever.

The Community Multiplier Effect

When the local community feel connected to a business, there will be a strong sense of loyalty which results in repeat custom, providing businesses with much needed stability. Most know this instinctively; far too few do anything about it.

When you get this right, loyalty turns into word-of-mouth. Locals tell friends, welcome new neighbours, and bring guests from further afield. Even in slower months, a connected community will keep coming, and keep you going.

The community can be relied upon to support your business – but only when you’ve done the groundwork.

Good Community Engagement

The key place to start is understanding who your local community are. Only then can you determine what good engagement looks like. There are several ways to gain a clear picture of your community, and all of them should be combined to achieve the best results:

• Look at demographic data for your area (such as the 2021 Census Results)

• Read local publications

• Note the other businesses in your area; what they are offering, and what they aren’t

• Talk to regular customers about what they’d like to see

Effective engagement methods include:

• Hosting meaningful events, not just the generic ones you see everywhere, such as quiz nights

• Partnering with local schools, charities, artists, or microbreweries

• Featuring local suppliers on menus

• Creating spaces for specific groups (book clubs, LGBTQ+ socials, dog-walkers, etc.)

• Letting locals feel seen and invested

As a real-life example, last month I ran a Eurovision-themed week for a local pub in an area with a high proportion of LGBTQ+ residents. The pub ended up raising nearly £500 for a London-based LGBTQ+ charity and saw a 60% uplift in takings for the week, and the pub’s profile as an inclusive and welcoming space grew.

Eurovision week in a South London Pub

Once you get your community engagement right, you will see an immediate upswing in community connection and loyalty. However, things can go wrong and you’ll lose that connection quickly, if you don’t watch out for a few areas.

Operations - where most slip up

Even when the community’s behind you, they still expect consistency and quality. Operational gaps, even small ones, can break trust fast, and it’s hard to win back.

Any of the following could trip you up:

• Inconsistent opening hours, product availability, and customer service

• Seeing community engagement as a one-off exercise, meaning you don’t stay up to date with what customers want (as this will change over time)

• Failing to keep an eye on your competitors

• Lack of planning for events and operations in general; that’s when things fall over

• High staff turnover, possibly from burnout resulting from some of the above issues

The worst possible outcome? A poor reputation amongst local residents develops that persists, even if you introduce positive changes at a later stage. At that point, the only remedy is often a (very public) change in leadership.

How to get it right

Community building takes effort and consistency, which means it needs to be planned, not improvised. These campaigns need proper lead time and coordination, your employees need to be involved, and you need to ensure you have structure around your marketing and event planning.

People don’t just want somewhere to eat and drink. They want to belong. If you can create that feeling, and back it with a consistent, high-quality service, you won’t just survive. You’ll be a local institution. Many larger chains won’t operate like this, so this is likely to be your major advantage over them, at a time when many people are turning their backs on larger corporations.

If you’d like help turning your venue into a true community hub, with the strong operations to match, book a free 30-minute discovery call with me today.