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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
James Tapper

‘It’s soul-destroying to have one customer on a Saturday’: Is the party over for the UK’s pubs and clubs?

Kate Nicholls United Kingdom Covid-19 Brexit
Lucy Do in her Hanwell micropub, The DoDo. She is standing at the bar with customers drinking behind her
Lucy Do in her Hanwell micropub, The DoDo. She now remains closed on Tuesdays. Photograph: Andy Hall/The Observer

It was Saturday night and the Dodo was dead. “I can’t really explain how soul-destroying it is when you have one gentleman in at 7.30pm on a Saturday,” said publican Lucy Do.

Until the pandemic, the name of this smart west London pub had managed not to be a hostage to fortune. Do’s pub is an award-winning modern community boozer in Hanwell, a stripped-back free house that takes the concept of a friendly atmosphere seriously enough that Do sometimes takes the time to introduce patrons to each other.

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