UK Pub and Brewery Closings Escalate

The lingering impact of the pandemic and the worst inflation in 40 years, which is making the cost of doing business more and more difficult, has led to an alarming increase in brewery, bar and pub closures in the UK.

Dave Richardson, of the Oxford branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) told the Oxford Mail  that it was not surprising to see pubs being boarded up, given the economic climate and urged drinkers to use their local pubs to help them survive.

“It’s no surprise to see the growing number of closed and boarded up pubs” Richardson explained…

“Breweries and pub companies seeking tenants are finding it more difficult than usual, as how can anyone put together a business plan when they face fixed costs but highly variable consumer demand and energy costs, with no guarantee that limited support with energy bills will continue beyond 2024? Incoming tenants face all kinds of costs including sometimes having to pay more for their beer than the going rate when a brewery owns the pub, and as many have found to their cost the reward for success is often increased rent.”

Last week, British national press warned that the UK is “sleep-walking towards utter disaster for tens of thousands of businesses.”

And BrewDog co-founder & CEO James Watt told the Independent that a pint of his Punk IPA would cost £27.50 (almost $34 US) if his beer prices matched the rising costs that businesses were currently absorbing.

On January 20^th the UK’s award-winning  Bad Seed Brewery announced its closure via twitter citing the economic impact of the Covid  pandemic, cost-of-living crisis, and “societal and market changes” as the cause…

“The beer world is very different to when we started in 2013. It has been thrilling to be part of the journey – and hopefully in our own small way, part of the change. But all journeys must come to an end.”

Barney Tharby, a pub-owner at a recently closed UK pub, the Blacks Head Inn told the Drinks Business that the cost of living crisis had forced him to abandon his business….

“Our utility bills doubled, and in October we noticed a 35% drop in revenue, because some customers could no longer afford to keep coming in – they had no money left for beer, and we had to make the decision that the business for us was no longer viable.”

“Although consumers remain eager to visit pubs, bars and restaurants,” Karl Chessell, CGA’s director for hospitality operators added, “thousands of vulnerable businesses remain at risk after three years of turmoil from Covid and inflation.

So fasten your seatbelts beer-lovers because 2023 is already shaping up to be a rocky year on both sides of the Atlantic.

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