Celebrating independent pubs with The Star of Greenwich

Bionic sat down with James Gadsby Peet, who runs a unique bustling community-owned pub in Greenwich along with his friends Lisa and Kirsty. We found out about the pints they pour as well as the inclusive events they put on for the local community. 

“The Star of Greenwich is a community-owned pub in Greenwich,” says James with a beam when Bionic asks him to introduce himself, “the aim is to be a place people meet one another and meet people they wouldn't normally run into in day-to-day life. We always say we're trying to be the most inclusive pub in London,” he explains, “and that means we do just as much work in the community as we do selling drinks.”

And what does that mix look like in the everyday runnings of the business?

“We have a lot of charities that use the pub space for various things,” James tells us, “English For Action, for example, is a local charity that runs free classes to help people learn English. Often people who've recently come to the country feel there’s a big barrier when learning English and it can be expensive, so they help with that. We do a lot of work with families and kids too. We have a stay-and-play that runs most of the week and lots of kids parties at the weekend."

James continues, "We also work with Plateful Café, who host pop-ups and help refugees get into the catering industry. Basically, we’re a pub, but also a community hub too.”

Helping people seems to be a huge focus for James and he lets it guide his business decisions when running The Star of Greenwich. Does he value being such a large part of the community? He says yes. 

“We have some great nights in the pub because we’ve got so many different parts of the local community coming together," he recalls, "for example, you might see a 35-year-old professional sat chatting to a student, or sat chatting to guys who are working on the railway, or maybe to someone who's been coming to the pub since the 50s.” James says proudly, “we're seeing those kinds of conversations happen and relationships build. I think it's hugely important for the neighbourhood. It helps make it a more enjoyable place to live and helps people find out about events they wouldn't necessarily hear about.”

James believes seeing people forming bonds in the pub is the best part of running it. It’s so invaluable because, in our busy lives, we don’t take the time to get to know others anymore.

“I mean, how often do you speak to someone who's older than you?" he asks, "if it's not in a work or family setting then it's very rare. So, I think pubs in the UK- London in particular- have a real, specific opportunity when it comes to that kind of thing,” he explains enthusiastically, “and that's my favourite bit. Obviously, when we have things like folk music or bands playing, that's another reason for people to come in too.”

Making links with the locals 

So, is James’ proudest achievement so far, bringing the community together and being the glue that binds them?

“Yeah, most definitely, we get to see those relationships that wouldn't happen otherwise,” He smiles, giving an example, “There's a couple called Liz and Phil, who have made friends with a man called Don. Phil and Liz both work in the city, up in Canary Wharf. Don is 90 years-old and lives across the road from the pub. He's been coming here his whole life. The fact that they've become genuine friends and now go out for dinner outside the pub setting is so great to see.”

That must be a rewarding sight to witness and make all the hard work worth it. But running a pub means battling a whole set of specific struggles. So, what has James’ biggest hardship been and how has he coped with the cost of living crisis? 

“I think there are so many barriers for any small organisation getting off the ground,” he answers after a pause, “especially for us when most of our staff are volunteers. That in itself is a particular challenge; 'how do you fit it all between your day job, family life and everything else?' It’s great when it works, but there are plenty of hurdles to overcome when it doesn't, whether it's local regulations, taxes, or systemic stuff.”

He adds, “Learning to deal with all those issues in a compressed time period without a lot of money is probably the hardest thing for us.”

So, with this in mind, has James had to alter the way he runs the pub in order to stay afloat?

“Yeah. In terms of energy use, we've installed some new kit via Heineken, as they supply our beer. This kit means we can turn the cooling settings in the cellar on and off as opposed to just leaving it on constantly. Those kinds of technology solutions are really handy.” He says.

What else has James found useful in his set-up journey? Is there anywhere he’s stumbled across a goldmine of particularly useful practical information?

 “The communities we’ve become part of have been really useful," he explains, "through the community pubs network there's lots of different places and people with different ideas and advice,” he says.

And if he could pick one thing, what is James’ favourite part about running his pub? Is it the range of people he gets to chat to every day day from all walks of life? Is it his work within the local area and making a difference? He says it's a mix of everything, but seeing how the events they put on pull the locals together is fantastic. 

“We get to put on some really cool, fun events,” he grins, going on, “Marathon weekend in London will be our first birthday party, and on marathon day the whole community is there; literally hundreds of people, kids and families. Everyone comes and the route runs down the road next to us.”

“That sense of community, especially in London, doesn't happen very often. It's a lot of fun to be a part of and a real privilege to be a part of it.” He tells us.

Although James is passionate about his work, how does he stay motivated and keep his staff motivated on slower days?

“For all of the lovely fun stuff we get to do, there's still lots of little operational things to work out in the pub," he nods, "and it varies. Motivation differs from person to person. Some people are more excited and interested in the bigger community things, and some have other focuses. But again, it comes back to people. It's all about talking to each other, understanding what people need and being curious."

Aiming for the stars

So what's next for The Star of Greenwich? What are James’ big plans for the future?

“We’re in the process of a big funding bid to try and purchase the whole property as at the moment we're only able to use half of it," James says, continuing, "That obviously really limits the sustainability of everything. If we're able to use the whole building, it will allow us to put a whole bunch of things upstairs, like an Airbnb flat to help with income. Then we'll put in some spaces for community working and charity office spaces.”

He pauses before adding, “but again, it’s all about increasing our impact within the local community. One of the suggestions that came through to us via Plateful Café, was possibly creating a health and beauty space. As they’re working with a lot of refugees, they talk a lot about how they want to get into those industries."

"We want to create space for them to use," he smiles, "whether it's a barber's chair or a nail bar. Those kinds of ideas are the ones we're really excited about moving forward. Hopefully, these changes will also allow the pub to be a bit more sustainable and easier to run, whilst increasing the impact of everything we do."

Talking about making the business easier to run, does social media play a part in advertisement? Bionic quizzed James on how he promotes his pub and all the events. Are Instagram and Facebook the prime focus or does he prefer more traditional methods of marketing such as flyering or word of mouth?

“We do a lot of social media work and also have an e-mail list. Instagram tends to be our most followed channel, but we use Facebook as well for groups," James explains, "we try to get a combination going. Again, it's very difficult when everyone taking care of our social media are volunteers.”

He goes on, “But we’re very lucky. We've had quite a lot of press interest and were on the BBC around Christmas time, we've had articles everywhere from local papers to the LA Times!"

He continues, "We even got into the flight magazine, Café Pacific, which is just totally weird," he laughs "The fact that someone might be flying over Shanghai whilst reading about The Star of Greenwich seems a bit nuts, but it's good fun!”

We think James must be full of fantastic advice, considering his ultimate success and the fact that his pub has been highlighted by many press outlets. If he could give a fellow business owner some tips, what would he say to them?

“Get more people involved than you think you're going to need,” he advises, “you may think you can do it all yourself but you can't. The more people involved, the more diverse the ideas.”

Is this diversity something he finds helpful when running The Star? He nods.

"It's myself, Lisa and Kirsty, who run the pub and we're all from quite different backgrounds," he says, "that means the pub itself and the work we do is better because we take into account all our different points of view. I think that's the key, to be honest."

And why does James think it's so important to support your local pub this summer rather than heading to a popular chain? He says you're sure to get a more personalised service in an independent pub and a friendly welcome no matter why you're there. 

"The focus of The Star is less about being a pub and more about being a hub where everyone can come and meet people they wouldn't normally meet," he explains, smiling and going on, "It's a place where everyone can feel welcome. You're welcome even if you don't have anything to drink. If you nurse a pint for four hours, you're still welcome. If you're here for a kids party, an English class or the life drawing, whatever it may be, everyone's welcome. So I think it's a slightly different vibe to what you might get in a more commercially driven place."

And finally, if James could change anything about his business set-up journey, would he? Or is he happy with how things went?

"There are definitely things we've learnt about the technical side of running a business, things like how to deal with suppliers, and some of the HMRC tax stuff," he answers, "overall, I think I'd probably plan that stuff a little more. But broadly speaking, I don't think we could be in a better place than we are now. That's not to say we don't have our challenges, but because we've got such a broad range of people involved, we've got to where we should be."

You can drop in on James and the team at The Star of Greenwich. You can also keep up to date with them and all their upcoming events via Instagram or Facebook.

Watch the full interview below or over on the Bionic YouTube channel.