Yorkshire pubs still face uncertain future despite Liz Truss's energy announcement - Liz Aspden

The instant nature of service and feedback keeps you on your toes, and all the planning in the world can come to nothing in an instant depending on factors including the weather, external events, or the mood of your intended customers.

The various lockdowns felt like a reset for the industry, and the pace of life changed immeasurably. Business models paused, or switched to new frameworks.

Weeks of uncertainty turned to months, with ongoing changes keeping us busy even if we weren’t seeing customers.

Whether the government support offered during the lockdowns was sufficient depended on your own circumstances - yet there was at least, throughout it all, the sense that the government was doing something.

The restrictions were harsh, but hospitality wasn’t forgotten about completely.

The general public almost as one pledged to never take pubs, restaurants, and cafes for granted again. There was hope that somehow, somewhere, things might just work out ok.

With the current cost of living crisis colliding with energy costs spiralling out of control, those hopeful days have seemed a long way behind us.

Some customers are already cutting down on their trips out to save money, in anticipation of a difficult winter.

Others are questioning whether they will be able to afford to come out at all as the weather cools.

In the meantime, hospitality businesses are questioning their own costs in the light of spiralling costs of ingredients, products, and energy: Will opening hours need adjusting? Will staffing have to be cut? Will kitchens have to close completely or reduce their hours?

The recent announcement by the new Prime Minister Liz Truss about capping bills for households, with business prices capped for six months, has been cautiously welcomed as a good start.

Whether it helps consumer confidence or encourages hospitality businesses to invest rather than retreat is a different matter.

One thing is for certain: many more people will be paying closer attention to exactly how much energy they use and what the cost-benefit will be.

In and of itself, this is a good thing (anyone who has lived or worked in Yorkshire and who has accidentally left a light on in an empty room will be used to cries of “It looks like Blackpool illuminations in here!”); the balance will be how it affects their quality of life, and the impact on their health.

One of the joys of running a small business is the friends you make along the way. The flipside is that when difficult decisions are staring you in the face, you feel the impact on your friends - staff and customers - so much more keenly.

Someone recently suggested that it took the pub industry three years to recover from the effects of the smoking ban, and predicted industry recovery from the pandemic to take a similar length of time.

That recovery has barely started before we’re being hit by more challenges, and the future remains very unclear.

Liz Aspden runs The Harlequin pub in Sheffield