67 pubs per maand failliet

In een tempo dat zelfs wij niet hadden durven voorspellen gaan pubs in het Verenigd Koninkrijk onderuit aan het rookverbod dat sinds juli vorig jaar daar actief is. Dat meldt de Sunday Mirror vandaag.

De hoeveelheid bier die in pubs verkocht werd is het afgelopen jaar met 50 miljoen pints gedaald. In 1970 werd 90% van het bier nog in pubs gedronken, tegen 58% nu. Tussen juni en december 2007 verdwenen er in Engeland 470 pubs, in de laatste twee jaar waren dat er 2000.

Veel van de dalende bieromzetten in de pubs worden geweten aan de verplaatsing van het gezelschapsdrinken naar privéhuizen, waarvan het voordeel is dat daar nog steeds gerookt kan worden.

The UK’s £6billion-a-year pub industry has been hit by a growing move toward drinking at home with cheap supermarket booze and the smoking ban. In the 1970s, 90 per cent of beer was drunk in pubs, compared with just 58 per cent today.

The dramatic decline leaves many of the nation’s 58,000 locals in trouble.

Last month’s nine per cent decline in sales follows a 9.7 per cent drop in November the worst on record while October fell by 7.7 and September by 8.2 per cent. Between June and December, 470 pubs disappeared 2,000 have closed in the last two years.

An industry insider said: “The bad news for Britain’s pubs keeps on getting worse.”

Since 1997, beer consumption has fallen by 11 per cent, while spirit sales are up 20 per cent and wine 46 per cent.

The British Beer and Pubs Association have called for a freeze on beer duty in a bid to boost sales. A spokesman said: “The British pub is under growing pressure from increased costs such as higher wage and energy bills.

“And with more and more consumers drinking at home, that’s bad news for Britain’s pubs.”

Industry analyst Mark Brumby says England’s failure to qualify for Euro 2008 put paid to any hopes of a revival in beer sales this summer. He said: “The outlook is very bad for pubs on the margin.”

Sunday Mirror