British Product
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British ProductBritish Pubs Are Going Out Of Business On A Weekly Basis, Due To A Variety Of Economic Factors, But Is There A Way To Stop This Happening?
Not too many years ago, throughout Britain, it appeared that there was a pub at the end of almost every street, but in recent times, changes in people’s social behaviour, ever higher taxes on alcohol and better understanding of the effects of excessive alcohol consumption have begun to cause big problems in the industry.
A March 2011 report by the British Beer & Pub Association states that throughout the UK, approximately 25 pubs are going out of business every week, and although this figure is down from 40 per week in 2010, 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 drinks reduces as a result of the closures. It is reckoned that the pub and beer industry employs in the region of one million people in Britain and if pub failures carry on at this rate, then even more jobs are likely to be lost.
As referenced above, more and more people (particularly in the prevailing economic climate) are deciding to stay indoors rather than go out and sit in the pub, and with the (comparatively) cheap prices charged for alcohol in supermarkets, it’s no surprise. For the cost of a glass of wine in a drinking establisment, it’s frequently possible to purchase a whole bottle of the same product in a supermarket.
The health campaign for much higher prices for alcohol is an subject which splits opinions. On the one hand, if problems caused by alcohol are such a drain on public resources, then it could be agreed that this is a sensible move, but it will penalise the huge majority of people who simply like a pint of lager or a glass of wine with their dinner occasionally. And, whilst there may be evidence out there somewhere, I cannot find any data which proves that the additional income raised from alcohol taxes is handed directly to the NHS to help them pay for treatment.
And it’s a fact that, although obviously well intended, paying out a lot of money on adult created advertising campaigns aimed at dissuading youngsters from drinking to excess is more likely to be interpreted as nagging them than offering genuine and helpful advice. For whatever reason alcohol will always be an attraction for a lot of British youth and demonstating to them the impact of being drunk won’t succeed any better than broadcasting adverts for Laser eye surgery to show them what they might require in the future if they spend too long messing about on computers and games consoles now and damage their eyes.
For people who lease and manage a pub through with a brewery or pub management business, even more financial pressures can crop up as the lease will usually specify that some or all of the supplies for the pub must be purchased from the parent company, and it appears that very often the prices they charge are a lot higher than other suppliers, with the result that the landlord has to sell the drinks at a inflated price, making the pub more expensive than others and quite likely losing business to other local establishments which can obtain their supplies at a lower cost. Extra competition comes from the big pub chains who can ask for large discounts on stock for their entire network and who speed up 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 large populations where it would be expected that there would be reasonable demand, however it could also be argued that places with a large population 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 find out if these regions have witnessed a drop in other non-essential expenditure – have car sales dropped, is there less demand for cosmetic surgery or Laser eye treatment, are fewer people arranging trips to the cinema or theatre?
It is a sad sight to see a once thriving and well used pub shut down and on the market. It is sadder still that the vast majority will be bought by developers who will either demolish them and build on the site, or strip out the interior of the property and alter it to accommodate flats, offices or shops. Where you once went to socialise with your friends for the evening, you might now be living, working, going shopping, making an appointment for the dentist or having your Laser eye surgery done – not exactly the same, is it?
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