Our Story
The Public House Institute didn’t start in a boardroom. It started behind a bar.
Fifteen years in this trade, across the big pub companies, the small independents, and finally a pub and restaurant of our own, taught us the same lesson over and over. The people who run pubs for a living rarely get the support they actually need. What they get instead is a marketing agency knocking on the door with a glossy deck, a monthly retainer, and a folder of generic content that could belong to any business on any high street.
That’s not marketing. That’s a tax on already thin margins.
We watched landlords and operators pay hundreds of pounds a month for AI-generated posts that said nothing true about their pub, their regulars, or the reason people actually walk through the door. Meanwhile the operators who were quietly getting it right weren’t doing anything clever. They were doing something honest. They understood their community, and they talked to it like people, not like a target audience.
The Public House Institute exists to put that knowledge back in the hands of the people running the pub, not the agency billing them for it.
We’re not here to sell the trade a fantasy. We’re here to give independent pub owners, operators, and landlords the practical, no-nonsense marketing support that actually moves the needle, built by someone who has stood where they’re standing, not by someone looking at the industry from the outside.
That’s the whole story. No investors, no head office, no spin. Just fifteen years in the trade turned into something that helps the people still in it.
Membership
Membership gives you ongoing access to the practical tools and templates the trade actually needs, without the agency price tag. For £29 a month you get real support built by someone who’s run a pub, not a marketing team guessing at one.
Members
We are honoured that so many independent pub owners, operators, and landlords have trusted us with their time, their custom, and their trade. Every member who joins is someone choosing honest support over another agency invoice, and that trust is what this whole Institute is built on.
What began as a passion for this trade quickly ran into a hard truth: most of the people running pubs were being sold marketing that had nothing to do with pubs at all.
Generic content, recycled templates, agencies who had never pulled a pint or covered a shift, all charging good money for advice that could have applied to any business on any street. The Public House Institute was built to close that gap, with support that actually understands the trade it’s serving.
Let’s Work Together
This trade is stronger when we stand together. Join our growing community of independent pub owners, operators, and landlords who’ve decided honest, practical support beats another agency invoice every time. Whether you’re after the free tools, the book, or full membership, there’s a place for you here, and we’d love to have you.