The comments come as the Government launches a fast-track review of “outdated” licensing rules, aiming to make it easier for venues to serve food outside, host live music and open later.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said pubs and bars were “the beating heart of our communities” and promised the review would help them “thrive”.
Trevor Puddifoot, who runs The River Ale House on Woolwich Road, is one of the many operators who believes the problems for small pubs go far beyond licensing laws.
Trevor said: “The big change over the last few years isn’t licensing. It’s that people just aren’t coming out in the same way anymore.
“There’s a kind of lawlessness that’s going on in the country.
“Every day you get it on the news, women being attacked and raped, and it’s never ending. You feel that’s going to be putting a lot of people off coming out at night.
“You can walk 200 yards on a main road and there’s just no one on the same pavement as you at that time.
“That never used to be the case. It’s like people have just stopped going out.”
He believes that some of the decline in footfall stems from a mix of factors including post-pandemic habits and the rise of home working.
Trevor said: “Before Covid, people would stop for a pint on their way home from work in central London.
“Now they’re already home, and when it’s dark and you know it’s also a bit dangerous, people think, ‘I’ll stay in tonight.’
“Working from home, safety worries and that legacy of Covid, they’ve all come together to change people’s behaviour.”
The River Ale House, which opened in 2017, was the first micropub in the borough.
Run by Trevor, his son Joe and daughter Sîan, it has built a loyal following for its rotating real ales, communal tables and relaxed atmosphere.
Trevor said: “We’re doing okay. We’re a bit niche, I suppose, being a micropub and specialising in real ales and good wines.
“People do make an effort to come here because it’s a bit different.”
While he supports efforts to modernise the system, Trevor said local councils have far more influence over whether small pubs can thrive.
Trevor said: “The council don’t help enormously. In all the time we’ve been open, no one from the council has ever asked how we’re doing or what issues we’ve got.
“They just don’t engage with small businesses.”
He also criticised local traffic schemes such as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, which restrict vehicle access to certain streets during peak hours.
Trevor said: “They’ve put in LTNs with very flimsy evidence that they make a scrap of difference. It just makes it harder for people to get here.
“If someone’s thinking about popping in for us after work or when they have nipped out, but if they know they will have to go around the houses because of that, they might just not bother.”
Trevor has seen huge changes in the area since opening the pub eight years ago and since first moving into his Woolwich Road premises in 1994.
(Image: Amy Clarke)
Trevor said: “When I first moved in, there were 10 pubs between the Charlton Athletic grounds and the Cutty Sark. Now every one of those has closed.
“10 pubs gone in just a couple of miles. It’s incredibly sad.”
The River Ale House has survived, he said, because it owns its building and sits below the business rates threshold.
Trevor said: “We don’t pay rates because we’re below the square metres, and that’s been a godsend.
“If that changed in the Budget, it would be an extra big weight on us.”
Trevor said he understands why the Government wants to simplify the system, but believes the existing licensing process isn’t the main problem for well-run venues.
He said he has had no trouble dealing with Greenwich Council’s licensing team when applying for temporary event notices, describing them as “very helpful all round.”
He said some flexibility to stay open later would be welcome, but only occasionally.
Trevor said most of his trade happens earlier in the evening, and by 11pm the crowds have usually gone.
He said that extending hours would only really help on special occasions such as Cheltenham races or football fixtures.
For him, it’s the smaller, ongoing costs that make life harder for operators – things like national insurance rises and small additional fees that add up over time.
Trevor said: “All these little fees might not seem like much, but if you’re a pub that’s a bit on the edge, every one of them makes a difference.
“When things are tight, those extra costs really hurt.”
The review could also see the scrapping of the requirement for pubs to pay for public notices in local newspapers when applying for or changing a licence.
Trevor said: “As soon as that was announced, the first thing I thought of was how it would affect the local newspapers.”
Trevor said his main focus is on keeping The River Ale House a place where people feel connected.
He said: “You look at the CCTV sometimes and you see people laughing away, and you think, that’s really nice.
“There are people out there staring at their four walls who would benefit immensely from coming somewhere like this.
“You haven’t got to treat yourself to death, just have a half or a glass of wine or a Prosecco and get chatting to someone sitting near you.
“Suddenly you’ve made a little mate and it’s been quite a pleasant experience.”
