London: The next time you want a drink in
Britain, chances are you won't find the good old traditional
British pub easily and will need to hunt for one, because
recession is killing 52 of them every week.
The pub is an important symbol of British culture, but
according to the British Beer & Pub Association, as many as 52
pubs closed per week in the first half of 2009, more than the
number for the same period in 2008.
Job losses and recession have ensured that not many
people go to the pub, and prefer to buy cut-price liquor from
supermarkets and consume it at home. There are also less
parties as families do have disposable income to entertain
friends at home.
Research by the association suggests that pubs in rural
areas were most vulnerable, while pubs that diversified and
provided food and other attraction were able to just about
ride the recession.
An association spokesman said: "Pubs are already
diversifying, but unfortunately if you are a community pub,
you can't transform yourself into a trendy town-centre bar.
The biggest impact is the recession. There are fewer people
out and fewer people spending money in pubs and bars,
regardless of where they are".
Two MPs tabled a motion in the House of Commons
yesterday, urging colleagues to "support their local pubs".
Liberal Democrat MP Greg Mulholland and Labour's Lynne Jones
said the pub industry was "hugely important to the British
tourist trade".
The association's chief executive, David Long, said that
the economic pressures of the recession had been added to by
the smoking ban, tax rises on alcohol and "regulatory
burdens". Pub closures had led to the loss of 24,000 jobs, he
added.
"Government should look at valuing and rewarding pubs as
community assets. Not only would this have social policy
benefits, by supporting a hub of community cohesion, but
financial policy benefits in terms of tax revenues,
particularly at a time when the public purse is stretched,"
Long said.
"Government now needs to listen to the pub sector in the
same way it listens to other sectors suffering this level of
job losses," he added.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 21:41