Networking, I realized, is not just about meeting new people; it's about deepening existing connections. Engaging with familiar faces allowed me to strengthen relationships, get to know others better, and, surprisingly, widened my network as I was introduced to new contacts.

Operating a family-friendly pub doesn’t always need to be about bouncy castles, fizzy drinks, and chicken nuggets. Whilst there is obviously a market for that what parents are actually looking for can be much more basic and easier to deliver.

What you’ve got to remember to ask yourself is “why do the parents want to visit the pub with their kids” and the answer is exactly the same for them as before they had kids.

They want to be out of the house, in an environment where they don’t have to do or ‘be’ anything, where others are taking care of them, where they can relax and be free to chat and connect with others, bond with each other and be part of a community.

Being parents doesn’t change these needs, if anything, it can make them more pressing and urgent, particularly when the kids are young.

I was recently listening to an interview with Ron Ashkenas who was at the time speaking in relation to Covid recovery but had written for the Harvard Business Review about innovation and the elements required for effective change.

He suggests that organisations should innovate with ‘urgency’ for which there are three elements:

1. Engage in small experiments

2. Set ‘zesty’ goals (challenging, short-term, and high priority)

3. Get personally involved

And it occurred to me that the independent pub owner-operators’ owners were already aligned to this and dong it well.

I am not religious and so once I grew over the age of thinking Christmas was just about Santa and the excitement of gifts and before I had children of my own to share the excitement with, I did spend time thinking about the meaning of Christmas and why it was important.

Humans have forever needed festivals and rituals, all our societies and cultures around the world are constructed around them. They create important moments for people to come together and to bond, to form new relationships, and to share in joy.

It is arguable that these moments in our lives are the most important, that they are what create the meaning in our lives.

I have been operating pubs, bars, and restaurants for over 22 years and in every venue, we have become a haven for someone who needed us.

My first experience of this was my first local bar. A venue designed for a young crowd all in their mid-20s. We served premium products with quality service and made our guests feel special.

Yet in the 10 years that I operated here, there were always customers who visited us daily who it was clear needed more from us than just a place to meet with friends.

Every important relationship in my life was created, established, and reinforced in a pub.

In response to the #pubsmatter campaign this week I took an opportunity to consider why I am so passionate about pubs and the role they play in our communities.

I realised that pretty much every significant relationship in my life has revolved and been bounded by the pub.

I found my first ever business plan the other day and whilst a took a break from what I was supposed to be doing to flick through and reminisce it struck me just how much I didn’t know when I started.

The business plan is great, professionally written, and covers all that it is required to, it certainly secured our funding. But it is so naive and it struck me how little it reflects an understanding of the real value that independent hospitality businesses contribute.

I am currently working on drafting a new menu for a business relaunch that I am working with and whilst I was just getting on with it I realised that I was, in fact, juggling a huge number of variables that need to be made to work so much so that I thought I’d take a break from my aching head and list some of them there.

They are in no particular order because the reality is that they are all equally important and need to be considered simultaneously (hence the headache!)