E-Malt.com News article: United Kingdom: 39 British pubs closed weekly by price hikes and government policy

British beer drinkers could face a 15p hike in the price of their favourite pint within weeks, The Scotsman cited a report on January, 18.

The increased cost will also be a massive blow for hundreds of pubs battling for survival as their profit margins fall because of the combined impact of the credit crunch, the smoking ban and cut-price supermarket alcohol.

Brewing industry analysts said on January, 17 that a hike of between 12-15p a pint in pubs across the UK was likely.

Beer sales at pubs are now at their lowest level since the 1930s and the number of pubs closing per week in Britain has accelerated to a staggering 39 per week.

The figures, compiled by CGA Strategy for the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), were cited by The Publican on January, 19, when a new mandatory code of practice for the industry was set to be debated in Parliament.

Rob Hayward, chief executive of the BBPA, said the code would lead to even more closures.

He said: “With pubs closing at a record rate and job losses escalating, it is truly staggering that the government is proposing to hit the sector with a £300m bill for extra red tape this year alone.

“In fact, the government openly state they believe that their new regulations will lead to more pub closures and job losses.

“Pub closures are a clear demonstration of the extreme financial and economic pressures facing the sector.

“At this time of deepening recession and rising unemployment, the government should be actively looking at ways to support the community asset of the pub. They should not be introducing legislation that will condemn more pubs to closure and put more people out of work.”

The figure of 39 closures per week relates to the first six months of last year and is an increase of three per week from the previous figure of 36 given by the BBPA's research.

In total 1,973 pubs shut up shop in 2008, 40 per cent higher than the 1,409 closures reported by the BBPA in 2007.

The figures reveal that community pubs are most at threat. Suburban pubs are closing at the rate of 19 a week, town centre pubs at eight a week and rural pubs at 13 a week.

Britain’s pubs are now closing almost 10 times faster than in 2006 (four a week) and nearly 20 times faster than in 2005 (two a week).


21 January, 2009