The Death Knell for the British Pub

How many times have you finished work, and gone for a pint before heading home? A drink with your mates or a 'sundowner' with your significant other.

The pub is the centre of community for most British villages, towns and cities. There are other 'centres', such as church, community centres, schools and local groups, maybe, but the pub is that one place where everyone gathers to meet friends or make new ones. All this is slowly dying. Our pubs are closing at an astonishing rate, with nothing in the pipeline to replace them.

This is not just about the closure of local business, although that is an issue too, but it is about the loss of a community centre, a home from home, for many people.

My local has just closed. This was a place that I met friends for a catch up and arranged to go with friends for nights out at the weekend. Now it is closed and people are displaced.

OK, why are pubs closing? That is a question that I've been unable to get a consistent answer to, but the one consistency is that the business could no longer support itself - trade having dropped off to a point where the business was running at a loss.

Why?

This is where answers are divided. There are a lot of reasons. Currently, the world is in a recession. The UK is in a recession. People are less able to afford as much luxury. With less people out, particularly at weekends, the businesses are suffering.

Another question then. Is the lack of people going out, all down to recession? Doubtful.

Changing trends, more restaurants, cheaper alcohol in supermarkets and the ban on smoking in public places are all likely contributors to the demise of socialising in pubs, but why and how did this all take place. In my opinion, they are all linked.

As the western world became more health conscious, spending time in smoky bars was considered less attractive to many, especially non-smokers. The pubs countered this by introducing non-smoking areas, or even completely non-smoking venues, and this was a good move, in my view, to give choice to everyone. It worked too. Pubs were busy, as they attracted the people who 'chose' that venue. Price was less important (pre recession) and facilities were taken more into consideration.

Then a couple of years ago, the world changed, and smoking was virtually outlawed, almost overnight. OK, a generalisation, but it paints the picture in my eyes.

People began staying home, inviting friends around. We can still smoke at home and the proof is there that where we could once smoke in pubs, we are now smoking at home and therefore drinking at home too. Supermarkets were the winners. Their cheaper prices, often under-cutting even the off-license, made perfect sense to those of us that wanted to enjoy a smoke with our pint.

What was not considered was what effect all this 'stay at home' socialising would have on our lovely pub culture. Pubs began closing one day per week, in some cases, or laying off staff to keep their heads above water in others. The customer base got less and less and although there was always the passing trade to keep things going, it was never going to replace the regular customers that had now stopped coming. The only way ahead was down hill.

Now, we are losing around 60 pubs every week in the UK. Last year, almost 30,000 people lost work because of this decision. There are at least a dozen pubs in my local area (Uxbridge / South Bucks) that have closed in the past year.

In my opinion, a disgraceful decision, badly implemented and impossible to maintain without further losses.

Long live personal choice.

PROHIBITION DOES NOT WORK