Brexit, COVID-19, and the rural British pub: assessing the adaptive resilience of the 'local' amidst contemporary crises.

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Following two decades of decline, British pubs are experiencing new rounds ofuncertainty and risk with the onset of Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, thepossible impacts of these crises are unclear since they are unprecedented in their unevengeographical and temporal manifestations. Such issues are acute for pubs in rural areasdue to their essential social, economic and cultural functions within their local socioeconomies.In response, this research, in collaboration with the Plunkett Foundation,aims to assess the adaptive resilience of rural British pubs in relation to contemporarycrises. While the notion of 'resilience' received much attention following the 2008 financialcrisis, the concept's ability to address the unique and interacting impacts of Brexit andCOVID-19 requires critical attention. With pubs performing central and essential civic andeconomic functions within their local economies, centralising these within place-basedpolicy discussions surrounding rural resilience is not only possible but logical. Thegeographically uneven, incremental and uncertain manifestations of Brexit and COVID-19are an unprecedented and unfolding challenge for theory and policy. Through a multilevelinstitutional approach, this research will strengthen conceptualisations of adaptiveresilience through assessing the formal and informal institutions through which it is(re)produced across the UK's devolved nations. Thus, it seeks to formulaterecommendations for rural pubs and applications for emerging community resiliencepolicy in the UK. Importantly, it will identify the key vulnerabilities of and opportunities forpubs in rural areas throughout contemporary economic crises and the application of thesefindings for theorisations of resilience.