Più di 200 pub chiusi in sei mesi tra aumenti delle tasse, mostrano le cifre

I think what isn’t acknowledged enough in the decline of pubs and clubs in the UK is how shite so many of them were? There was an absolute race to the bottom in terms of quality and drinks prices for quite a long time and when the economy changed and costs increased the model of sticky carpets and utterly trashed customers who won’t notice failed.

That’s not to diminish the economic pressure a lot of them have been placed under and to deny that good ones have closed but by god, a thinning of the herd was well overdue. It’s not some unmitigated tragedy.

Its not tax hike. Its rent. Its always rent. Until government realises that landlordism is killing the economy by hoarding money that could be spent productively, nothing will get better

Tax hikes are such a small part of the problem. Pubs have been closing at a similar rate for years, with the pandemic accelerating an already worrying trend. Tax hikes on employees won’t have helped but you would have to have deliberately not paying attention to the issue to think that increased taxes are the sole cause for pub closures. The cost of living crisis alone is why pubs have been struggling, alongside exorbitant rents and beer ties from pubcos.

There are a lot of reasons for the decline of pubs and the price of alcohol inside a pub was only one of them.

There’s the fact that you can get your booze from the supermarket and pay 600% less per pint than if you went to the pub. That was a death blow. Then the internet became amazing, so you could get any entertainment imaginable from the comfort of your own home whilst paying 600% less for your alcohol. Another major deathblow.

There’s also the fact that my generation (born in 1988) and the ones after it just simply don’t drink anywhere near as much as previous generations. I had a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale on my 18th birthday and that’s the first and last time I ever drank alcohol in my entire life. Why is that? I have no idea, but somehow alcohol just wasn’t a thing for me, and every single person I know that is my age or younger – all friends, all relatives, everyone – is the same. They just don’t drink at all, ever. I’d actually be interested to know why there was such an enormous shift in culture in such a short time.

In my town, which used to be around 30,000 people but is now around 45,000, there were pubs everywhere, on every street practically, and in the center and on the highstreet there were loads. But even 20 years ago I’d look in through the windows when I walked past and there were never more than 5 or 6 people in there. I used to wonder back then how the hell they made enough money to stay open. Now only the ones in the center and on the highstreet are left and there’s still only ever 5 or 6 people in them when I walk past and I’m still wondering.

Less to do with the tax hikes, far more to do with price hikes from the owning brewery on the leaseholders.

Most pubs are “free” houses that can pick and choose where to order from – they **have** to order from the owning brewery, regardless of the price.

the industry is changing, publicans need to accept that. Younger people do not go to pubs. They need to change their business model