Greene King, the UK’s leading managed pub company and brewer, has revealed the nation’s views towards returning to pubs post lockdown, with 70% of people saying that visiting their local pub was a top priority, ahead of even visiting family and friends (69%).
Greene King pubs began reopening on 6 July and the company has surveyed over 25,000 people to understand their views on returning to pubs and how they found the experience. To ensure the safety of team members and customers, all pubs have implemented health and safety measures and adhere to the Pub Safe scheme, which ensure safe socialising and minimal contact between customers and servers. The research shows that despite those measures, more than eight in ten (86%) customers felt that the pub they visited still had the atmosphere they had been hoping for.
Importantly, almost all respondents said they felt safe visiting the pub (99%) and would feel comfortable returning in the future (98%). The research also shows that almost all people (97%) agree that visiting pubs again makes them feel like life is getting back to normal.
Karen Bosher, Managing Director Premium, Urban and Venture brands at Greene King, said, “Pubs are a quintessential part of British culture and we were delighted to start welcoming customers back earlier this month. It goes without saying that the health and safety of our teams and customers was our number one priority, but we also wanted to make sure that our pubs still felt like the friendly, sociable places they always have been. It’s fantastic to see that people are still keen to visit their local pubs and even better that they felt safe doing so and have enjoyed the experience.”
