British pubs are having a moment. Not in Britain: you can blame Keir Starmer’s rise in business rates for that. Instead, they are branching out overseas. Take Wetherspoons, the granddaddy of British boozers, set to open next month in Alicante airport, or BrewDog, which has opened its doors in Dubai and many other international outposts besides. 

Perhaps British pub chains will prove to be our next big export market. No doubt there will be the obvious jokes about arch-Brexiteer Tim Martin opening pubs in Europe. But would you really bet against him? Whatever you think of Wetherspoons, I can assure you that you’ll never find an empty one. Just imagine the kind of trade they could do in Barcelona or Rome.

Which brings me to Dubai. Did you know there was a BrewDog in Dubai? I confess that I didn’t. Though if you’re walking across the touristy retail district on Bluewaters Island, it’s hard to miss it: a massive 11,000 sq ft purpose-built pub, replete with a gigantic teal BrewDog logo and a large outdoor terrace overlooking the charter yachts in the marina below.

When it opened its doors in May last year, it became the first BrewDog in the Middle East. But it’s far from the only international outpost for the Scottish pub chain. There are currently 37 BrewDogs outside Britain, including 11 in the United States, five in Australia, three in India and one each in Thailand and Japan.

I was aware of the Vegas........

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