The Decline of the Pub in England: number of pubs continues to fall
More and more landlords are having to close their pubs. The reasons for this are rising costs for personnel, electricity and goods.
Due to rising costs, the number of pubs in England and Wales has again declined sharply. In the second quarter of the year, 230 pubs closed their doors for good, which is about 50 percent more than at the beginning of the year. Those figures come from government data compiled by Altus Group, a real estate consultant, and released Monday. In the first half of the year, a total of 383 pubs were either demolished or converted into apartments, offices and kindergartens. This equates to about two closures per day and is about the same as the total in 2022, when 386 restaurants were forced to close. At the end of June there were still 39,404 pubs in England and Wales.
Increase in property tax
An Altus expert, Alex Probyn, urged Treasury Secretary Jeremy Hunt to tone down the planned property tax increase in April. Restaurants are suffering from high energy costs, low economic growth and high interest rates. Probyn stressed that an average property tax increase of 12,385 pounds (about 14,370 euros) next year is the last thing pubs need.
Experts attribute the industry's problems to increased energy costs, labour costs and wholesale prices, as well as declining consumer disposable income. In addition, many commuters stayed away due to rail strikes. Both large chains like market leader Wetherspoons, which recently closed dozens of pubs, and smaller pubs are affected by this development. Analysis shows that independent craft beer suppliers and themed pubs, on the other hand, are experiencing growth.