Skill Built This Country - And We Forgot To Say Thank You

A poster-sized, full-blooded, no-bullshit sermon for the walls of every bar, kitchen, brewery, and battered walk-in fridge in Britain.

There was a time — not that long ago — when skill meant something here.

Not “influencer skill.”

Not “I-can-use-a-spreadsheet” skill.

I mean real, knuckle-scarred, shirt-soaked-through, learned the hard way skill.

The kind that built Britain long before the LinkedIn personal-branding brigade showed up and declared themselves “thought leaders.”

The kind your nan would nod at quietly.

The kind that didn’t need applause — because the job itself was the applause.

And Christ, we’ve forgotten it.

I was reminded of this by a Tony Benn clip that fell out of the algorithm like a ghost rattling his chains — 30 years old, dusty VHS vibes, telling the absolute truth:

Britain looks down on skill.

Always has.

Still does.

We worship middle management and PowerPoints, but the ones who actually build and make and serve?

They get told to be grateful.

To smile more.

To “get a real job.”

Hospitality feels this more than anyone.

Who This Hits

Some kid on TikTok thinks pouring a pint is “unskilled.”

Some office lifer calls your Saturday night service “just waiting tables.”

Some minister who’s never worked a shift in their life calls your entire industry “low value.”

And the next day they’ll eat in a restaurant, drink a pint, stay in a hotel, and talk about the “experience” like it came from magic.

It didn’t.

It came from skill.

Skill is the bartender who reads a room like a novel.

Skill is the chef who holds their station together with muscle memory and sheer bloody will.

Skill is the glassie sweeping broken dreams off a sticky floor at 2am so the punters don’t cut their feet.

Skill is the manager keeping the lights on with £3.87 in the till.

Skill is the brewer hitting the same flavour profile for the thousandth time while making it look easy.

Skill built the pubs.

Skill built the kitchens.

Skill built the breweries.

Skill built our cities.

Skill built the UK.

And somehow — even as an entrepreneur, even as someone building brands and businesses and payrolls — I never forget who the real backbone is.

It’s not the money people.

It’s not the suits.

It’s not the strategists in their WeWork pods.

It’s the people who do things.

With hands.

With guts.

With graft.

With care.

This country was built on skill.

And if we don’t start respecting that again — properly respecting it, not in a politician-on-TV kind of way — then we’ll deserve every empty high street, every closed pub, every burnt-out worker who finally says “fuck this” and walks.

Why It Matters

Hospitality isn’t unskilled.

Skill is our religion.

Skill is our backbone.

Skill is the blood in the taps, the heat on the line, the heartbeat in the room.

If you’ve ever worked a shift — you know.

If you haven’t — respect the people who do.

SKILL BUILT THIS COUNTRY.

RESPECT IT BEFORE IT’S GONE.