Decline of the British Pub
1
THE BEST BRITISH PUBS IN LONDON The Marquess Tavern 32 Canonbury Street Islington, N1 2TB www.marquesstavern.co.uk The White Horse 1-3 Parson’s Green London, SW6 4UL www.whitehorsesw6.com The Princess Louise 208-209 High Holborn Holborn, WC1V 7BW 020 7405 8816 food&drink 87 A t the end of a long and tiring day, invitations for after-work drinks reverberate around the streets and offices of the City, conjuring up a sudden thirst for pint-sized refreshments. In the past, hearing the quintessentially British phrase, “Fancy a pint?” would have generated expectations of meeting with friends and colleagues amidst the cosy setting of the Great British pub. Long regarded as a beacon of ‘Britishness’, the pub has been loved for centuries for being a place to relax and unwind with a cold beverage in hand, in surroundings not too dissimilar to your own front room. Today, however, it seems that the modern consumer is expecting more than just traditional pub charm, and the suggestion of a post-work beverage no longer lures us straight to the beloved British local, but instead into any one of the stylish cocktail bars, gastro-pub chains, or sophisticated wine bars that line the streets of the City. As a result, the British pub is finding itself unable to compete with these new demands, and every day five or six pubs are calling last orders for the final time. The Great British pub has formed a unique part of our country’s heritage since the eleventh century, and has played a vital role in communities across Britain by providing a supervised environment for responsible alcohol consumption. This year, the importance of the pub was acknowledged when the ‘Great English Pub’ industry (which together with the brewing industry contributes approximately £28bn a year to the UK economy), was awarded VisitEngland’s Enjoy England Excellence Award for Outstanding Contribution to Tourism. This award recognised the integral part pubs play in the fabric of English life, and the opportunity they provide for domestic and international visitors to meet local people and enjoy local foods and drink. Yet despite this, there is currently an average of 36 pubs a week shutting down – a glum statistic when compared with two a week in 2005. Disappearing along with the pub is our national beverage, beer, with total beer sales in pubs down to their lowest level in almost 40 years, a level equivalent to that of the Great Depression of the 1930s. One of the main reasons for this decline in beer sales is the fact that beer duties have risen drastically over recent years. In 2008, the Government increased Beer Tax by 18 per cent, and increased it further still in 2009’s budget, despite receiving low public and government support, and the efforts of campaigns such as Axe the Beer Tax Save the Beer. This means that today, if you buy a pint of beer for £2.50, you will be paying a mammoth 80p in tax, which is one of the highest tax rates in the world. Subsequently, the government now makes fifty times the brewers profit on each pint sold, which inevitably is effecting the brewers, who are already suffering as a result of soaring prices of barley, malt, glass, aluminium and energy. As beer sales are the key source of pub profit, this rise in beer tax has had a devastating effect on pubs, with more than 2,700 pubs closing down since 2008’s budget, causing 20,000 job losses. Pubs are also having to compete with cheap supermarket lager and super-cheap student bar prices, which are encouraging people to drink at home or in bars that promote drinks offers. Combine this with increasingly sophisticated home entertainment, a general drop in alcohol consumption (according to the British Beer and Pub Association figures) and rising costs of living, and there is a resulting social trend away from drinking in pubs that is leaving many simply unable to trade profitably. This trend has not been helped by the smoking ban, affecting many urban pubs that were unable to offer an attractive outside area for smokers. So the British pub as we all know and love it is being forced to make changes. Many see the traditional pub institution as outdated, probably due to the fact that originally, pubs were designed to cater for a male dominated working society, whereas now they need to consider not only working men, but women and children as well. Like all industries, the beer and pub industries need to adapt to appeal to new consumer tastes and lifestyles, and consequently food is now served in 80 per cent of all pubs, with over one billion meals sold every year (figures compiled by Axe the Beer Tax campaign). The pubs that remain are recognising that they must embrace modern tastes and innovations, such as stylish refurbishments, updated menus and specialised wine lists if they want to survive; but will they still be able to retain their rustic British charms if they do? n THE DECLINE OF BRITISH PUBS Kelly Green laments the decline of the traditional English watering hole
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Transcript of Decline of the British Pub
THE BEST BRITISH PUBS IN LONDON
The Marquess Tavern 32 Canonbury Street
Islington, N1 2TBwww.marquesstavern.co.uk
The White Horse 1-3 Parson’s GreenLondon, SW6 4UL
www.whitehorsesw6.com
The Princess Louise 208-209 High HolbornHolborn, WC1V 7BW
020 7405 8816
food&drink 87
A t the end of a long and tiring day, invitations for after-work drinks reverberate around the streets and offices of the City, conjuring up a
sudden thirst for pint-sized refreshments. In the past, hearing the quintessentially British phrase, “Fancy a pint?” would have generated expectations of meeting with friends and colleagues amidst the cosy setting of the Great British pub.
Long regarded as a beacon of ‘Britishness’, the pub has been loved for centuries for being a place to relax and unwind with a cold beverage in hand, in surroundings not too dissimilar to your own front room. Today, however, it seems that the modern consumer is expecting more than just traditional pub charm, and the suggestion of a post-work beverage no longer lures us straight to the beloved British local, but instead into any one of the stylish cocktail bars, gastro-pub chains, or sophisticated wine bars that
line the streets of the City. As a result, the British pub is finding
itself unable to compete with these new demands, and every day five or six pubs are calling last orders for the final time.
The Great British pub has formed a unique part of our country’s heritage since the eleventh century, and has played a vital role in communities across Britain by providing a supervised environment for responsible alcohol consumption. This year, the importance of the pub was acknowledged when the ‘Great English Pub’ industry (which together with the brewing industry contributes approximately £28bn a year to the UK economy), was awarded VisitEngland’s Enjoy England Excellence Award for Outstanding Contribution to Tourism. This award recognised the integral part pubs play in the fabric of English life, and the opportunity they provide for domestic and international visitors to meet local people and enjoy local foods and drink.
Yet despite this, there is currently an average of 36 pubs a week shutting down – a glum statistic when compared with two a week in 2005. Disappearing along with the pub is our national beverage, beer, with total beer sales in pubs down to their lowest level
in almost 40 years, a level equivalent to that of the Great Depression of the 1930s.
One of the main reasons for this decline in beer sales is the fact that beer duties have risen drastically over recent years. In 2008, the Government increased Beer Tax by 18 per cent, and increased it further still in 2009’s budget, despite receiving low public and government support, and the efforts of campaigns such as Axe the Beer Tax Save the Beer. This means that today, if you buy a pint of beer for £2.50, you will be paying a mammoth 80p in tax, which is one of the highest tax rates in the world. Subsequently, the government now makes fifty times the brewers profit on each pint sold, which inevitably is effecting the brewers, who are already suffering as a result of soaring prices of barley, malt, glass, aluminium and energy. As beer sales are the key source of pub profit, this rise in beer tax has had a devastating effect on pubs, with more than 2,700 pubs closing down since 2008’s budget, causing 20,000 job losses.
Pubs are also having to compete with cheap supermarket lager and super-cheap student bar prices, which are encouraging people to drink at home or in bars that promote drinks offers. Combine this with increasingly sophisticated home entertainment, a general drop in alcohol consumption (according to the British Beer and Pub Association figures) and rising costs of living, and there is a resulting social trend away from drinking in pubs that is leaving many simply unable to trade profitably. This trend has not been helped by the smoking ban, affecting many urban pubs that were unable to offer an attractive outside area for smokers.
So the British pub as we all know and love it is being forced to make changes. Many see the traditional pub institution as outdated, probably due to the fact that originally, pubs were designed to cater for a male dominated working society,
whereas now they need to consider not only working men, but women and children as well. Like all industries, the beer and pub industries need to adapt to appeal to new consumer tastes and lifestyles, and consequently food is now served in 80 per cent of all pubs, with over one billion meals sold every year (figures compiled by Axe the Beer Tax campaign).
The pubs that remain are recognising that they must embrace modern tastes and innovations, such as stylish refurbishments, updated menus and specialised wine lists if they want to survive; but will they still be able to retain their rustic British charms if they do? n
THE DECLINE OF BRITISH PUBSKelly Green laments the decline of the traditional English watering hole
