Britain is now set to lose a pub a day this year – as beer prices rise

Britain is now set to lose a pub a day this year – as beer prices rise



Posted by Gold_Tension3721

26 comments

  1. Not a huge drinker, but this is sad. Feels like we are seeing a cultural shift, which is being aided by a government which doesn’t really care.

  4. It’s easy to blame the rising price of beer, but there’s more to it than that.

    We’ve created a world where people don’t go out. People used to go to music recitals and lectures (some of the societies that existed in mining communities 100+ years ago are tremendous), then the radio came along.

    We used to go to the cinema, then massive TVs and Netflix came along.

    We used to drink at the pub, but now we can watch movies on our massive TVs at home, we buy alcohol at the supermarket (companies like AB InBev have also done a spectacular job of making the economies of scale they and supermarkets can drive make drinking at home much, much cheaper than the pub).

    But also, and there’s no getting round this, an awful lot of pubs are absolutely fucking awful.

  5. Why hasn’t any government run on a platform of cutting VAT on pub alcohol, or at the very least pledging to charge VAT on supermarket alcohol to level the playing field? It seems like an absolute no-brainer.

  7. As is the case with all businesses, pubs will need to adapt to survive.

  8. It now costs roughly the same to get one pint at a pub as it does to buy 4 Stella’s at Tesco.

    That is unsustainable and it’s no surprise no one is going.

  9. This isn’t news, unless the news is “decline in number of pubs slows”. The UK has lost more than one pub a day since 2007.

  10. The majority of the public can’t afford to just have a casual few drinks on the regular. Sometimes picking kids up on a Friday I stop at the pub two mins down the road from school and two non alcoholic drinks (soft drinks) and a packet of crisps each can come to a tenner. I’m not a big drinker anyway but I do like to sit in a pub occasionally, but anytime you go out you end up spending loads, unless you you flat out to refuse to get anything for the kids.

    We go to the park when it’s hot and there’s an ice cream van, I don’t mind treating the kids occasionally, but it ends up being twenty quid for four ice creams. Even just getting for the kids I end up thinking, can go to the Tescos and get a 4 pack for a few quid if you look for the right deal.

    Both me and my partner earn a decent wage, but life in general is fucking expensive.

    My dad would often head for a few pints most days and sometimes bring back a kebab for us and it didn’t break the bank, if I did the same I’d probably be spending hundreds a week now.

  11. If everyone who complained about pubs closing actually went to the pub, this wouldn’t be a problem.

  12. All the above reasons are valid. I also suspect that the younger generations are just not prioritising drinking like we did.

  13. Looks like a bit of a trash rag, so I don’t really want to read it, but does it state anywhere what the total number of pubs are? Are we losing 365 pubs a year from a starting total of 100,000 or 1,000?

  16. I live in Sheffield and paid £7.50 for an Asahi on Saturday. Nearly died on the spot.

  18. I know simple solutions are rarely the answer to complicated problems, but can anyone tell me:

    What would happen if the government reduced tax on alcohol to zero in pubs, while tripling tax on alcohol sold in shops?

    Would drinking in pubs become cheaper than drinking at home, thus leading to a boom in pub culture?

  19. Pubs have been in decline for a hundred years or so…nothing new

  20. I know there are many other factors in play, but the impact of COVID and it’s many lockdowns are going to be felt for decades.

    I truly wonder what the reaction would be now if another pandemic broke out in 20 years time.

  21. Beer prices rise, wages stagnate = people spending less on social activities and more on survival.

  22. Despite what a lot of people are saying I do think a lot of it is down to the price. Yes younger attitudes have changed but I’d argue that more because of the price than overall behaviour. It’s always been so expensive to them that it wasn’t worth them getting involved in the culture.

    £5-6 a pint, £7-10 for a glass of wine, it turned into something to do as a treat or that only your parents could afford in a posh country pub. There’s zero chance that those on starter jobs or students could afford to go for a pint or two a number of times a week, alongside all of the other costs in life. Your non-drinking friends can’t even afford to come along for a coke either because that £3-4 and just absolutely not worth it.

  24. It’s all the new legislations that the anti British Labour Party are bringing in! That’s who’s killing off the pubs

  25. Can anyone give a cost breakdown a la Sankey diagram to show what is £8 pint consists of?

  26. Here in NE Thailand I pay 100THB (£2.29) for 620ml (1.09 pints) of Thai bottled beer in the bar / restaurant. I guess if you bought it from say Makro to drink at home, it would be even cheaper.

    Imported beer is more expensive: Guinness is about £5.70 / pint and the Bus Station Bar currently has Backyard Welcome to the Jungle £6.85 / pint and BrewDog Hoppy Christmas £6.85 / pint.

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