A community of independent pubs has hit the milestone of £500,000 distributed to Londoners to spend on food and drink through their unique Christmas gift.
Alison Boutoille, founder of CityStack, outside Skehan’s, in London, with landlord Bryan Fitzsimons
Shortly after the Covid, French national Alison Boutoille, who fell in love with pub culture after moving to London, decided to bring together a community of independent pubs and create a discount scheme to combat inflation, helping Londoners to continue to enjoy nights out, despite rising costs.
The concept of the initiative, called CityStack, is simple. Londoners purchase a £25 stack of beer mats, called the London Pub Collection, which gives them £100 worth of food and drink at fantastic independent pubs across the city.
Each pack comes with a special beer mat, which can be shown at any ten of more than 60 pubs participating in the project. Customers have it stamped and receive £10 off a £20-plus spend.
CityStack provides a fun experience, too, with a map and a stack of collectible informative beer mats to learn more about a curated selection of independent pubs.
“We joined the initiative in 2021 because we love that CityStack is leading the way in supporting independent businesses like ours,” said Bryan Fitsimons, landlord of Skehan’s in SE14.
“The scheme is an excellent system that helps people discover our place. I’ve been recommending it to other landlords, as I believe all independent pubs could benefit from increased footfall.”
Alison said:”Observing the daily disappearance of these de-facto community centres, which are so core to British culture, is heartbreaking. The challenges pubs have faced for many years have worsened significantly since the pandemic.
“Changes in drinking habits, staff shortages due to Brexit, massive increases in operating costs, and upward-only AGA leases form endless, belligerent obstacles that increase the daily struggle, making the situation untenable for independent businesses.
“We had to do something to help these small businesses thrive and allow publicans to keep fighting to preserve these places that allow everyone to connect in an increasingly lonely world.
“While big chains may be better equipped to weather the current economic situation, it’s much harder for independent businesses to stay afloat, which is why we created this initiative. We encourage people to return to independent pubs before it’s too late, and a Christmas gift is a great way to do so.”
Find out more at citystack.co/.
