New web app helps Londoners discover and support independent pubs as closures mount
● Britain lost 295 pubs between January and September 2026, putting the country on course to lose an average of 1 pub per day this year ⁽¹⁾.
● CityStack's pub voucher programme, the London Independent Pub Collection, gives pub lovers £10 off a £20 spend at 10 pubs of their choice, encouraging them to discover and support independent pubs across London.
● Five years after its launch, the scheme has grown from 10 to over 80 independent pubs and has distributed over £1M worth of food and drink to Londoners.
● CityStack launches a web app that helps Londoners discover independent pubs across the capital and redeem their discounts directly from their phones.
22 October 2026 - As independent pubs across the UK await the Government's Budget, the CityStack London Independent Pub Collection is celebrating 5 years of championing independent pubs with the launch of a web app. The initiative began in 2021 with just 10 pubs, offering “beer mat pub vouchers” to encourage people back into pubs following the Covid-19 pandemic. The goal was simple: to help pub lovers discover and support independent pubs while saving money.
For £25, users received a pack of ten pub vouchers in the form of beer mats to take to participating pubs, each voucher offering £10 off a £20 spend. That's £100 worth of food and drink across London's independent pub scene for just £25.
Caption: CityStack's "A proudly independent pub" sticker, displayed at participating pubs
Supporting independent pubs when it matters most
Five years after the initiative began, independent pubs remain squeezed between rising operating costs (energy bills, business rates, rent and the cost of beer) and declining footfall as the cost-of-living crisis leaves people with less disposable income to spend on going out.
As a result, Britain has already lost 295 pubs in 2026, putting the country on course to lose 1 pub per day this year ⁽¹⁾. London lost 20 pubs over the same period, around 1 every 2 weeks ⁽²⁾.
While CityStack cannot solve every challenge facing the hospitality industry, it has been tackling one part of the problem since 2021: driving more footfall by helping Londoners discover independent pubs and giving them an incentive to visit.
By making independent venues easier to identify and offering meaningful savings on food and drink, the initiative aims to direct more customers towards the pubs that need their support and help independent pubs compete with chains.
Over the past 5 years, the CityStack London Independent Pub Collection has distributed over £1M worth of food and drink and grown from 10 participating pubs to over 80 across London.
Caption: Original CityStack pub voucher beer mat
Discover and support independent pubs from your phone
In response to growing enthusiasm from pub lovers, CityStack has introduced a digital experience, allowing users to explore the list of participating pubs and redeem their discounts directly from their phones.
Available at app.citystack.co, the web app makes it easier to discover participating pubs and redeem the discounts without needing to carry a physical beer mat.
Caption: CityStack web app
The offer remains the same: for £25, pub lovers receive 10 discounts of £10 off a £20 spend at ten independent pubs of their choice, adding up to £100 worth of food and drink. Discounts can be redeemed directly from a phone, with no expiry date, giving users the freedom to explore London's independent pub scene at their own pace.
Users can filter pubs by what they fancy, whether that's a beer garden, a cosy fireplace, a dartboard, a pool table or a £5 pint. They can explore each pub's page to discover new places, document their visits in a personal journal and earn badges along the way.
The new web app also offers more flexibility in how users receive the pub vouchers. They can purchase a digital ‘collection’ of 10 discounts directly on the web app for £25 or, for a gift, choose a printable gift voucher or a physical pack containing a paper map and discovery beer mats featuring a selection of pubs. Both gift options include a code to unlock the digital collection on the web app.
Caption: From left to right: printable pub voucher, physical pack, and a user unlocking their £100 worth of food and drink in the web app.
Making independent pubs easier to discover
Alison Boutoille, founder of the CityStack London Independent Pub Collection, has spent the past few months building the web app to make independent pubs easier to discover and the discounts simpler to redeem.
"People love the tangible aspect of CityStack, and stamping the Special Beer Mat is a big part of the fun. But some of our users forget their beer mat, or simply want the convenience of having their discounts on their phone. It felt like the right time to offer another way to enjoy the collection, while making it even easier for people to discover and support independent pubs."
Alison Boutoille, Founder of the CityStack London Independent Pub Collection
Caption: Alison Boutoille, Founder of the CityStack London Independent Pub Collection
Alongside the collection, Alison has launched the “Indie Pub Tour” and established the annual “Support an Independent Pub Day”, held at the end of January to encourage people back into pubs after Dry January. She passionately continues to champion independent pubs, which she believes are essential to the core of British culture, and has been featured on the BBC, Daily Mail Online, TimeOut, Los Angeles Times, France24, The Metro, iNews, The Morning Advertiser, MyLondon, My Weekly Magazine, This is Local London, Southwark News, and Beer Today.
Looking ahead, Alison Boutoille hopes to develop native apps for the App Store and Google Play, and to bring the concept to other cities with thriving independent pub communities.
For now, the mission remains the same: helping Londoners discover independent pubs, keeping nights out affordable and supporting the local businesses that bring communities together.
Explore the collection at app.citystack.co.
For more information, visit: citystack.co
CityStack and several independent pub owners are available at short notice for interviews.
Photos of the CityStack sticker, the original pub voucher beer mat, the web app and Alison Boutoille included in the press release. Additional high-resolution photos available on request.
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For further information please contact Alison Boutoille via alison@citystack.co.
Third-party news items are published as received for informational purposes. Publication does not imply endorsement by the Guild. Please use the contact details within the post for any enquiries.
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