British Pubs Are Going Out of Business on a Daily Basis, Due to Various Economic Factors, but Is There a Way to Prevent This Happening?
A few years ago, all over Britain, it felt like there was a pub at the end of practically every street, but in recent years, changes in people’s social preferences, ever higher taxes on alcohol and improved knowledge of the effects of excessive alcohol consumption have begun to cause major problems in the industry.
A 2011 report by the British Beer & Pub Association indicates that throughout the UK, around 25 pubs are closing every week, and although this figure is down from 40 per week a year ago, it is still a disturbing trend. The average pub employs around ten members of staff, so 250 people a week in the industry are threatened with unemployment, as well as the knock-on effect on the brewing industry if the market for their products reduces as a result of the closures. It is estimated that the pub and beer industry employs approximately one million people in Britain and if pub failures go on happening at this rate, then even more jobs are will disappear.
As stated above, a growing number of people (particularly in the current economic climate) are opting to stay at home rather than go out and spend an evening in the pub, and with the (comparatively) inexpensive prices charged for drinks in supermarkets, it’s no surprise. For the cost of a glass of wine in a drinking establisment, it’s quite possible to buy a whole bottle of the same product in a supermarket.
The health lobby for ever higher prices for alcohol is an subject which splits opinions. On the one hand, if alcohol induced health problems cost the country so much, then it could be debated that this is a reasonable move, but it will then penalise the large majority of people who basically like a pint of lager or a glass or two of wine with their dinner occasionally. And, whilst there may be proof in existence somewhere, I haven’t found any data which proves that the extra profit raised from alcohol taxes is given straight to the NHS to help them pay for treatment.
And sadly, although obviously well intended, paying out a lot of money on adult conceived advertising campaigns aimed at preventing youngsters from drinking excessively is more likely to be perceived as nagging them than offering genuine and sensible advice. For whatever reason alcohol will forever be appealing for a lot of British youth and demonstating to them the results of being drunk won’t work any better than showing them adverts for Laser eye surgery to demonstrate what they might have to have done in the future if they spend too many hours on computers and games consoles now and damage their eyes.
For people who lease and manage a pub by arrangement with a brewery or pub management company, additional financial pressures can crop up as the lease will usually demand that some or all of the drinks for the pub must be supplied by the parent company, and it appears that usually the prices charged are a lot higher than other suppliers, which means that the landlord has to sell the drinks at a higher price, making the pub more expensive than others and possibly losing business to other local pubs which can get their stock at a cheaper price. Extra competition comes from the big pub chains who can arrange large discounts on products for their entire network and who optimise their bar processes with computerised tills and Laser eye barcode readers.
Evidently, the areas which are experiencing the highest levels of pub closures are London and the North West of England, both regions of the country with high population levels where it could be expected that there would be constant demand, but it could also be argued that regions with a lot of inhabitants will be badly hit with redundancies in a recession and this might go some way towards explaining the reasons behind the ongoing level of closures. It would be fascinating to do some research and see if these regions have witnessed a decrease in other non-essential expenditure – have car purchases dropped, is there less demand for cosmetic surgery or Laser eye treatment, are fewer people going to the cinema or theatre?
It is a shame to see a previously thriving and well loved pub boarded up and up for sale. It is even more of a shame that many of them will be purchased by developers who will either knock them down and build on the site, or strip out the interior of the property and make in into flats, offices or shops. Where you used to go to socialise with your mates for the evening, you could now be living, working, going shopping, making an appointment for the dentist or having your Laser eye surgery done – not quite the same, is it?