Comparison is the thief of joy. It’s a phrase I’ve often uttered to bartenders when they compare their conditions to those enjoyed by their colleagues living in London. The global cocktail capital has been instrumental in the modern cocktail revival, and the school of London bartending is undoubtedly the best in the world. Yet, for the rest of us, this pedigree has, on occasion, tipped over into an air of self-righteous pretension. Now, London could be about to face its biggest challenge yet… a reality check. One that would come from the unlikeliest of places – the price of the admission ticket to BCB London.

For years, the city has been showered with access to infinite brand trips, educational seminars and cheap, or free, entry to the annual Imbibe Live piss-up years before.

The result is that seldom do you see a London bartender travel on their own dime to any other part of Europe to interact with the rest of the continent’s bartending community. The entry fee for the new BCB London for two days is 100 quid. That’s the same price as the entry to BCB Berlin. Bartenders from all over Europe with lower salaries and tougher working conditions will save money for a year to buy flights, hotels, entry tickets and check out all the seminars and visit all the bars and pop-ups.

As a result, the community on the continent has never been healthier while London cuts an increasingly solitary figure. The UK bartending community is at a fork in the road. Accept the new terms and conditions that require them to invest in their own careers, engage with education and participate in building the community or reject the whole notion to carry on their path of isolation. After all, no man is an island.