More pubs are closing every year, what has shifted in the uk for the pubs to close? And what is now the hub for social gatherings in the uk?
Posted by M23ueno@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 133 comments
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redmanshaun@reddit
Its just too expensive. That's it. For both Pub and the customer.
M23ueno@reddit (OP)
Right but what would be a place where people are being meeting for social in the uk? Cuz for a long time I was told it was the pub.
ForTheEmperor-WH40k@reddit
I have no idea why this is being downvoted lol
M23ueno@reddit (OP)
It’s Reddit, what can you expect. I asked a genuine question lol
ForTheEmperor-WH40k@reddit
Btw to answer your question from my perspective - there is no equivalent although these coffee/ice cream shops are getting popular.
If you’re actually looking to meet people these days, I’d say joining an activity is the best way (tennis, running, cycling, hiking, book club etc.). Whatever you’re into.
There are also some websites that organise meet ups.
I am a pub goer myself and it’s a shame so many are struggling.
ForTheEmperor-WH40k@reddit
Madness lol
ThatchersDirtyTaint@reddit
We don't need to anymore like we once did. Go back to the 70's or 80's. You get home from work and what was there to do? listen to the radio, watch one of 4 TV channels, read or some other little hobby. So you went to the pub to enjoy your time.
Now look what we have in the way of distractions today.
72dk72@reddit
There is an app for everything..... I also read people are drinking less alcohol, so why go to the pub to buy a soft drink , for which you could buy two 2 litre bottles forbade same pricem
Linfords_lunchbox@reddit
Does this ability to entertain oneself on a solitary basis coincide with a rise in social anxiety?
ThatchersDirtyTaint@reddit
Causing a lot of issues.
colemang1992@reddit
I think socially were more inclined to spend time with a partner and/or kids than we used to be, so that keeps us at home more often too.
itsYaBoiga@reddit
This comment is proof that punctuation really does matter 🤣
colemang1992@reddit
Huh?
itsYaBoiga@reddit
Were/we're completely changes the meaning and makes it confusing.
colemang1992@reddit
Ahh, that'll teach me to type and send without proofreading. In my defence the "than we used to be" after makes it less confusing 🫣
M23ueno@reddit (OP)
Yeah that’s factual. I still think you can defo go to the pubs or places like old street for instance, where you can have a good time and not spend an amount of money on entertainment. A lot of the pubs there play free music
New-Dot1833@reddit
We play games now at home
M23ueno@reddit (OP)
Wish that happened at home
PraterViolet@reddit
Get a grip, Eee-Aw!
Drewski811@reddit
They aren't
M23ueno@reddit (OP)
they are* Just look up the ‘quiet revival’ and see the stats for your self
Drewski811@reddit
Did you read the next two paragraphs of the exact thing you linked?..
M23ueno@reddit (OP)
Are we talking about gen z going to church or the attendance of church? Cuz I think you have got the two confused.
Drewski811@reddit
I was initially answering your initial comment about where people are meeting for social, and I'm saying they're not.
Then you brought up the church thing with a link to a story about a report, but the link itself debunked that report.
So I'll be honest, I don't know what point you're trying to make anymore, because you're going all over the show.
PaDDzR@reddit
Ever shifting goalpost championship.
FlatCapNorthumbrian@reddit
People aren’t really meeting to socialise in person. Supposedly there’s a loneliness epidemic, people don’t want to go in to the office anymore and rather work from home as well. It all reduces the chance to socialise in person.
CheesyLala@reddit
I always find it strange that people think working from home is antisocial. For me it means instead of spending hours commuting to spend time with people with whom I have nothing in common other than that we work for the same company, I have free time to do hobbies, see mates in the evening, see more of my wife/kids/dog, pop round to my parents' for a cuppa, and so on.
The most antisocial I've ever been was when I had a job with a long commute and would regularly not get home until 8pm.
itsYaBoiga@reddit
Exactly this, it's not spending those hours on commuting and being better rested and using it productively in the evenings. I'm at work to work anyway, not socialise.
M23ueno@reddit (OP)
It’s true, I face a lot of loneliness right now but my way to cope and socialise has been visiting different churches and seeing the community they have. A lot of the gen z in 🇬🇧 has been going to places of worship to socialize.
Ok_Satisfaction_6680@reddit
The church has always preyed on the vulnerable, poor and isolated. It’s depressing if that is on the rise.
CheesyLala@reddit
It's not really happening in any meaningful way. Have read a few articles on this, plus spoken to my own kids. Mostly they want to belong to something, want some meaning, feel like something has been lost, all of that sort of thing - but they don't believe in god.
My parents - life-long atheists - regularly go to church, because they're 80 years old and that's where the other 80-year-olds hang out. They get to sing nice songs in beautiful old buildings then have a cup of tea and a biscuit with other people like them. They reckon half the people there don't actually believe in god, they just like the social side of it.
Drewski811@reddit
No, they haven't.
There's been a slight increase, but the overwhelming majority of young Brits don't go anywhere near churches at any point in their lives.
it_is_good82@reddit
As I put in another post - the reality behind these numbers is just that the number of options people have is reducing. There are now 4 pubs you can go to rather than 5, and the one that closed was (by definition) the least popular.
Ce0u1150@reddit
Your local Roundtable will have socials all over the place, tho some times this ends up in the pub
cvslfc123@reddit
It's sad but cost is the main thing.
10 years ago £5 pints were only seen in Central London, now there are pubs around me in Harrow that have £6 pints.
notouttolunch@reddit
I lived in Surrey and you could still only get two drinks for a tenner 15 years ago.
el_diablo420@reddit
I love going to the pub. But it’s not £6 for a shit pint such as Thatchers, Fosters etc. That’s why they are closing
notouttolunch@reddit
Your problem here is going to pubs that sell thatchers, Foster’s etc.
Even Wetherspoons can do better than that.
culturerush@reddit
You know what are doing pretty well in the UK?
Board game cafes, escape rooms, axe throwing centres, places full of old arcade games
The variety of what a person can go out and do with their friends has expanded massively even since I became an adult 20 years ago. Back then it was either the pub or drinking down the beach/at a park if it wasn't raining. The closest thing to a board game cafe was a battered chess set at the pub with half the bits missing.
Going out even for a just a couple of pints is expensive which factors in massively too. What I paid for 2 nights out on a weekend 20 years ago wouldn't even get you a night out now.
notouttolunch@reddit
I have also done these things but I don’t think they have any staying power. I threw axes once and loved it. But I won’t go every week, like I would to the pub.
carlovski99@reddit
'Sit at home with your mates' is a telling one.
A lot of people reported actually liking some bits of covid restrictions - like having to/being able to reserve a table in a pub, table service, only being able to interact with your group.
I don't go to the pub just to see the people I am going with/meeting there. It's also to see other people.
notouttolunch@reddit
I have to say, I wasn’t totally against some of this. It was a mess because it was all done in a hurry and to constantly changing rules. But in principle, yeah it was okay.
DarkmoonBlastoise@reddit
Too expensive. When I was 18 a pint was £2, you could be out all night for £20. Cheapest drink in my local today is a pint of fosters for £5.50. £20 lasts about an hour
FlatCapNorthumbrian@reddit
I had 11 pints the other Saturday for £16.39. It’s still possible to drink cheap, you just don’t drink premium.
notouttolunch@reddit
Yeah. We easily manage this at Wetherspoons.
Perhaps Wetherspoons should help locals by becoming a beer distributor too. A Wetherspoons tied treehouse.
Nervous-Economy8119@reddit
Were they pints of tap water?!
Beartato4772@reddit
That's not the question we need asking. If they think Fosters is premium what in the absolute shite were they drinking that wasn't!
FlatCapNorthumbrian@reddit
Not referring to Foster’s as premium. But most people now will drink nothing less than a premium larger Mardi, Stella etc. the cheaper, lower volume stuff is not even looked at.
carlolewis78@reddit
You need to elaborate on this more, because even drinking piss in the shittest pub in the country, I have a hard time thinking you paid £1.49 a pint.
Artistic_Train9725@reddit
Yeah, I paid £8 for two pints of bitter and a pint of Bow in Merthyr last Saturday, that's cheap.
But £1.49, you're in one of the bars that sells only cans and shorts.
FlatCapNorthumbrian@reddit
Or Spoons.
Artistic_Train9725@reddit
Oh, I don't mind Spoons at all. If I'm away for a night or two with work, I'll often pop in for an hour or two. Set the laptop up and have a couple of pints while getting something done..
morocco3001@reddit
Were you drinking that rotten Ruddles pisswasser in Wetherspoons or something?
FlatCapNorthumbrian@reddit
Worthingtons. However DoomBar was only £1.69 a pint as well.
notouttolunch@reddit
Foster’s is never the cheapest! It’s surprisingly expensive for something so vile.
Kaiisim@reddit
This is it. If you map minimum wage to the price of alcohol in pubs it's very clear what's happened. Supermarket booze is so much cheaper.
I think a lot of us were raised by alcoholics too...
TheRadishBros@reddit
I think the health element is overblown. If pints were cheap, GenZ would drink pints. They have to find alternative forms of escapism instead.
notouttolunch@reddit
What’s a GenZ?
Tigertotz_411@reddit
Cost is obviously important, but it would be a mistake just to look at it in monetary terms, but in terms of time as well. Time is more valuable than money in some ways.
Most things do well not because they're good, but they're there. They're easily available and don't require much effort.
Going out requires effort and planning when you don't have to. If you can have a similar experience at home, with a film, nibbles and music of your choice, why wouldn't you?
citizen2211994@reddit
It’s the cost. I can’t afford to regularly go anymore. It’s not just pubs, feels like everything’s closing. Near me other than vape shops and barbers there’s f all.
Optimal_Collection77@reddit
I was in Manchester a while back and right by the university there was a load of coffee shops and a huge brew dog bar.
The bar was empty and the coffee shops were packed. When I was in Uni it was totally opposite.
The students were not skint by any measure so it's obviously a choice.
Times change and they are voting with their wallets
dbxp@reddit
I think that bar is mostly a marketing expense, it's not in the price range of most students. Students go to places like The Grosvenor (formerly Footage), The Flour and Flagon, Kro Bar and Turing Tap.
oudcedar@reddit
Good grief. That shows just how long it was since I was a student there. I haven’t heard of any of those. It was the Square Albert, Peveril on the Peak, Whitworth Arms, the Salisbury and a bunch others then before watching a crap band at the Hacienda.
PipBin@reddit
Pevril on the Peak and the Lass O’Gowerie. Withington Alehouse for a quick one before heading off.
oudcedar@reddit
I was trying to remember that name - yes rhe Lass O’Giwrie. I used to meet my fellow QPR exiles there even they weren’t UMIST but I was and liked the place.
Was very amused going to a match 30 years later and told the QPR fans always gather at the Lass but nobody knows why.
dbxp@reddit
I'm guessing back in that era UMIST was still a thing? All those bars you mentioned are a bit more central.
oudcedar@reddit
Well guessed, I was UMIST.
SomeHSomeE@reddit
How do you know?
You can spend a couple of hours in a coffee shop and have a cake, a coffee or two, and spend around a tenner. A few drinks in a pub you're pushing £20.
Optimal_Collection77@reddit
It was the£1000 Mac books and£500 jackets that have it away
Riddle_Brother@reddit
They need to do work and keep warm - these are necessities
DarthMori@reddit
£500 jacket to keep warm? Okay.
Optimal_Collection77@reddit
Hmmmm
SomeHSomeE@reddit
And possibly bought for them by parents
Myc__Hunt@reddit
It's also a brew dog bar so they probably boycott it for either ethical reasons, the fact their beers expensive or the fact that their beers shit.
Optimal_Collection77@reddit
This was a few years ago so that hadn't hit at the time. Now I totally get it
Myc__Hunt@reddit
It's always been expensive and shit and I'm pretty sure they've been known to be wankers for a long time aswell.
1Moment2Acrobatic@reddit
It's been going on for decades with changes to society then made worse in some periods by changes to the pub ownership models or the economy in general. Here's a newspaper article from 2009 about the last pub closing in a Suffolk town. It documents decades of closures and says: “If you look into the history of any small town or large village like Eye there would have been lots of pubs and beer houses because that's how people entertained themselves.
“It was very much a male preserve and very different from now. The decline of pubs was because people started doing different things - they started making their own entertainment."
PipBin@reddit
Exactly. It used to be that a man went home from work, had his dinner and then left the wife to deal with the kids. I’m old enough to remember when a woman wouldn’t walk in a pub alone and certainly wouldn’t order a pint.
Now people’s home are nicer places to be. Men want to be involved with their children and seem to like their partners on the most part.
LagerBitterCider197@reddit
The rise of fitness culture in 18-24 year olds is a big factor.
Whereas in the 90s, gyms were few and far between and populated mainly by male weighlifters, there are vastly more gyms now - with a lot more women using them not just for the gym but also for crossfit/hyrox etc, also evidenced by the massive success of brands like MyProtein, Grenade, Gymshark etc.
Violet351@reddit
It started to happen when they banned smoking and then prices started to increase and then Covid happened
DameKumquat@reddit
Kids can't go to pubs age 14 any more (mostly) so don't get into the habit of going.
Housing is on the whole warmer and nicer than in the 80s/90s when pub-going really started to decline.
People mention being teetotal now, but back then people routinely nursed a pint of lime or blackcurrant cordial all night if they were broke, because they wanted to be in the warm cosy pub with their mates.
Before mobile phones, it was harder to make plans, so everyone would go to their regular pub knowing some friends would be there, and either stay there or organise going on somewhere else.
Drinking for hours after work is no longer acceptable for men in relationships who have partners (and especially children) wanting to see them.
There's now more than 4 TV channels to watch and loads of video games to play, so people want to be home (or at a mate's house)
Microwaves and ready meals make it easy for anyone to have a decent meal at home even if they're a shit cook in a bedsit, so more tempting to just go home.
More transport info so you don't end up at a station just missing a train so having one in a pub, or waiting for delays to be resolved - you just set off later.
Etc.
AutisticCorvid@reddit
I think you've covered most of the main reasons really well here. I do wonder if another factor is better awareness of the dangers of drink driving/stricter laws around it/it becoming more of a social taboo.
For example, I live less than two miles from the closest pub. So, it's not exactly far to walk, but the NSL road with no pavements and some blind corners that we live on isn't the safest for walking along (especially if you're not sober!). Add to that the fact we're in the NE of Scotland, so at certain times of year it's fucking cold and gets dark at like 4pm, and it's not a pleasant walk.
I'd be willing to bet going back 30 years ago, a LOT of people would have been happy having a few in the pub and then risking the short drive home afterwards. These days, I think (and hope) far fewer people would do so.
DameKumquat@reddit
You're probably right, though the decline in drink-driving coincided with more people having cars at all. I don't know much about rural pubs - I do wonder how some of them created a business before most locals owned cars. I suppose the NSL road wasn't dangerous when there were hardly any cars on it.
Changing media portrayals probably also played a role - I don't recall Hollyoaks or similar teen programmes showing the cast in pubs, (Neighbours/H&A are Australian but no pubs appear) and EastEnders and Corrie became watched only by older people, so kids wouldn't see pubs as a place for cool young adults to go.
Level_Version3368@reddit
Ready meal a decent meal?
CaptainLilacBeard@reddit
Ready meals are a decent meal compared to how shit convenience food used to be back in the day
Level_Version3368@reddit
Fair enough
setokaiba22@reddit
Kids can go into most pubs until 8:30 under 18? Although can’t say I spent much time in a pub as a kid, last place I’d want to take kids is a pub to be honest - unless it was for food and a nicer pub or chain.
The cost is high but coffee shops and such have replaced pubs a lot I think.
CheesyLala@reddit
Kids can go to the pub with their parents, not just with their mates. Big difference.
G30fff@reddit
I think he means that you can't go into a pub and get served beer any longer, as you once could relatively recently, because of more stringent licensing conditions. When I was a teenager in the 90s I think I had my first pint around the age of 13 and buy the time I was legal I was already a regular pup-goer. That very rarely happens now.
DameKumquat@reddit
Depends on local licensing conditions set for individual pubs. But if groups of teens can't hang out after 8.30, they're hardly going to go to the pub for the evening (some allow kids if there's an adult with them,.same issue).
So they go to each others houses, stay home and chat online, ones with some cash go to dessert cafes and/or gyms, or they get drunk down the park just like my young day,.only more likely to be weed/nitrous because they're easier to get hold of than booze now.
YsoL8@reddit
I think the netflix and chill / playstation and chill factor is a massive factor in all of this
That and price. If you are determined to drink with friends pubs are both much more expensive and much less entertaining. And thats if you still have a local.
parsl@reddit
Because most traditional pubs are owned by one of a few big pub companies like Punch Taverns, Stonegate, Admiral, Star Pubs, and they often have a lot of debt.
They lease the pub to some poor fool and employ some very dodgy practices to extract as much money from the naive landlord as they can. Conditions such as having to purchase the beer from the pub company themselves at rates way above the free market rate. If they make a success of the pub, the pub owning company will increase the rent so the person running the pub doesn't reap the rewards of their hard work.
Except for Greene King, these pub companies dont brand their pubs so you may think its just The Red Lion, or the White Horse, but actually its just part of a huge chain. If the pub company decide a pub isnt making enough money for them, they'll get rid of the current and get a new tenant to put their life savings in to the pub. Rinse and repeat. eventually, the pub company will sell the pub for residential development, "earning" half a million from the sale, and put a covenant on the land saying it cant be used as a pub in the future. Now imagine its a town with two or three pubs all part of the same pub company? They'll close one, and know the customers will all just cram into their other pub. The press rarely mentions the pub company when a pub closes. Its never "Stonegate closes our pub" - Its just "The Three Crowns has closed" so you dont notice the villain in the background extracting the money.
The end result, lots of publicans work themselves into the ground and lose their life savings, and the village/town loses a purpose-built, architecturally interesting Victorian/Edwardian/Georgian pub building to flats.
Now, if you happen to be in one of the parts of the country where micro-pubs have been popping up for the last 10-15 years, contrast the difference. Pub/beer enthusiast rents a commercial property on a high street for a fixed rent. Buys whatever beer they like from whatever brewery or importer they like, shopping around for the best price. Get to run their business without any interference from the building owner. Free to respond to market trends, customer demands, local needs.
I dont think the need for pubs has reduced, I think pub companies are running them into the ground and selling them off for residential development to service their debts/shareholders.
Wise-Youth2901@reddit
There's still lots of pubs around me in London. I think part of the decline in pubs is changing economic geography of the country. Some areas had lots of pubs because there used to be a lot more local industries and jobs and so people popped into the pubs more, and then those jobs disappeared. My home village has lost most of its pubs in the last 20 years. It's the same story of decline and change you see across the UK, with many areas losing their economic purpose.
Ok_Resident3556@reddit
I suspect it’s the cost. I still go to my local quite regularly, but it’s now over £10 for 2 drinks for me and husband. I can’t blame the landlord putting prices up, i KNOW his overheads have massively increased.
It’s an amount of money that I (late 30s, small mortgage, part of a couple with no kids - ie a decent amount of disposable income), can spend on a semi regular basis for a change of scenery, but for younger generations trying to scrape together the ever increasing rent and even raising a deposit for a mortgage in the hope they might be able to buy somewhere, it’s far too expensive.
Spottyjamie@reddit
Fwiw i started noticing estate pubs closing in the 90s as there was simply no need for them. The older crowd went to the working mens as it was cheaper, then left those for spoons when spoons opened as it was nicer inside/done food/opened all day
But a lot of factors. People dont work near pubs as much. I used to work in a city centre so walked/bus there then pub after work most fridays. Now its in a trading estate so most people drive. They arent going to drive home then bus back to town.
Which brings me on to bus cuts. When i was 16 the buses to town til 7pm werent even timetabled. Now theyre hourly 10-3pm and getting home is a faff as most of the cabbies left to work as couriers.
Cost… my locals are generic greene king/punch taverns and most pints are pushing £6 in a town where £28k a year is considered a high wage
Social changes. My college/uni was 16-21yrs old and even midweek we had a choice of busy nightclubs all offering knockdown prices. Now it seems like younger people dont drink as much plus its harder to buy. No issues 15-16 in a pub back then. Now not everyone has a driving license nor passport and dont want to take it with them just to buy a drink. My town on saturdays is easily the 35yr old+ groups going out from dinner time onwards leaving sun-fri dead whereas it used to be steady midweek and only a slight spike saturday daytimes.
PaDDzR@reddit
For us it's money.
£5 a drink is not cheap, that'd be minimum of £20 for 2 of us. The local pubs aren't exactly nice... Old carpets, old seats, nothing really to do there, just loud noises. So why bother?
Going to fancier / cheaper places might be worth it. But I'm not spending £20 on a 10-15 min taxi drive. (probably way more, let me live in my ignorance)
CheesyLala@reddit
I do think it's a shame that kids aged 16-17 can't make use of pubs. When I was growing up in the 80s-90s by the time you were 16 you could usually get served and as long as you generally kept your head down and didn't act like a dick you were fine. It meant that we all behaved, we were off the streets, and we'd usually not drink too much so as not to get pissed and draw attention to our group in a way that would see us kicked out.
Now my kids are that age they have nowhere to go. Most cafes shut at 5pm, maybe the odd one that's open until 7 or 8pm. Frankly I'd rather they were in a pub, would be better than them hanging around on street corners or in the park.
I don't quite know how you'd legislate to allow 16-year-olds into pubs without alcohol becoming a problem, but it feels like it would help the pubs and help young people feel like they had somewhere to go.
TheSmallestPlap@reddit
Nobody has any money
Martipar@reddit
Finding a good pub is hard. When i was younger i could pick from multiple rock pubs in the area now i have one mediocre one and one that only has bands on occasionally.
Disposable income has declined due to rising costs, poor handling of the economy and stagnation in wages.
I don't expect to go out and hear exactly what i want to hear but i want something good. I year all sorts of old songs that were crap when they were new. I want older songs or new songs that are better. I used to go out and hear Korpiklaani in the 6 months or so when it seemed Folk Metal was the next big thing, going out now I don't hear Tailgunner who are about as well known and popular as Korpiklaani were back then.
I can travel to places to like The Old Sal in Nottingham for a good night but it's two buses and unless I'm at a gig on the same night it's difficult to justify.
G30fff@reddit
people drink less, pubs are more expensive relatively, there is more entertainment at home, the internet replaces the social aspect. Pubs aren't going anywhere, there are still tens of thousands of pubs making money all over the UK and new ones still open. We just don't need as many as we once did.
Whulad@reddit
Expensive- more and often better food options-decline in drinking culture- working culture stopping lunchtime drinking - break up of traditional communities.
My grandad went to his local 4 or 5 nights a week for instance.
it_is_good82@reddit
Whilst this is a sad situation for very rural areas - for the vast majority of us it just means there's 4 pubs within walking distance rather than 5.
It's driven by a combination of increasing land values (pubs can be converted into more profitable things), the huge jump in energy costs and rising staffing costs due to minimum wage and NI hikes.
CalmStomach3@reddit
I'd spend more if pints were cheaper, I will spend more overall if i'm spending £3 a pint at spoons than if I spend £7 a pint at another pub.
Fukthisite@reddit
Less English people to use them.
More mosques are opening every year though so there's that. 🤣
drewlake@reddit
Can you just fuck off with the racism? What's wrong with you? Don't you ever get tired of being racist all the time?
PraterViolet@reddit
There's been a massivly noticeable shift in prices for what used to be rough n ready "honest" cheaper food upwards into the same bracket as "mid-range" dining.
A few years ago, my local pubs used to do a decent ciabatta/roll with cheese n ham or whatever for about £7 and pies and burgers were around £10/£11.
At the same time a pretty great upmarket restaurant in town would do a lunchtime menu for about £22. There was a clear difference in quality and price.
Fast forward to now, and the decent value rolls have gone as an option and pub burgers are now £18. Meanwhile the same swanky restaurant menu is still something like £24.
The diiference in quality between the two is still massive but the difference in price not so much.
So that's why we don't eat at our local pubs anymore. Why would I spend £18 on a pretty average burger, when I eat in a great restaurant and have 2 or 3 courses for just a little more?
cloche_du_fromage@reddit
Less need for pubs as you can find random minge more easily on the Internet nowadays.
_Sad_Ken_@reddit
If I were meeting mates, it would still be in a pub, but a city centre pub. My local closed a while back, the landlords were just going through the motions. No food, only 1 ale and 1 lager on, no events... It's no surprise it closed. They got 500k for it, so I suspect it was the plan all along.
SomeHSomeE@reddit
Running costs are at an all time high.
But also, frankly, a lot of publicans are stuck in their ways and unwilling to adapt to changing tastes and expectations. Pubs that have evolved to a more modern market are thriving. Stuffy old man pubs are not.
greenfence12@reddit
Yep, pub in the Yorkshire dales that didn't like walkers, didn't allow dogs (two of the most captive markets in that area)... unsurprisingly closed
InspectionWild6100@reddit
People's social circle are much closer, frequently updated and communication lines are varied (meme's) and constant with the 24/7 availability of smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, laptops etc.
Exact_Setting9562@reddit
People sitting in and watching millionaires on a channel owned by billionaires when they could be down the local pub giving them their money instead.
GarrySpacepope@reddit
The majority of which are owned by large corporations (same as the majority of the drinks) while the landlords are probably on less than minimum wage if you calculated it on an hourly rate.
If you can find a freehold in private hands, go there and drink a local beer from a small brewery, fuck greene king, enterprise, spoons and the like, they're part of the problem. Craft beer brewery tap rooms are the best options in city centres.
Lonely-Job484@reddit
Fewer people are drinking in general.
And between power, property and people costs it's more expensive than ever to go out for a drink. I can't recall the last time I paid less than about £9 for a glass of (usually terrible) wine, and I paid £14 for two pints a couple of weeks ago.
It's been going downhill since the smoking ban, from a business perspective - absolutely sensible public health policy, but there was a big overlap between smokers and people who'd prop the bar up, so there was a noticeable drop when it came in. And those that didn't stop starting coming for one or two rather than a session.
Covid didn't help - those who were still at the pub pre-covid had a couple of years to adapt to staying home more
Chicken_shish@reddit
On the flip side, I would barely go to a pub pre the smoking ban because they were generally filthy stinking places where I wouldn't want to breathe or eat. Now I'm a Friday night regular.
IMO it's the price that's killing it. Two mates go to the pub to meet - couple of pints each and you're looking at 25 quid each, for an 18/19 year old, that's simply unaffordable. Taxis to get you home afterwards have gone up massively as well. It ends up being an expensive night out.
I think unless you have a landlord who really works the place, you struggle to make it work. In our local, Thursdays is the "elderly meet up" - the pub is crammed with the older people from the village, mostly drinking high margin coffee, some will stay for a ploughman's and a pint. That takes effort - if the landlord is just standing at the bar waiting for customers to order, it will probably fail.
greenfence12@reddit
It's the cost of the food/drinks in the pubs factored in with the increasing costs of everything else. Rents and mortgages take up an ever increasing amount of our incomes, combined with rises in food, broadband, energy, car finance, train tickets etc that it leaves you with a decreasing amount left each month. If it's then £7 a pint, £20 a meal, and a service charge whacked on top, it's no wonder people are spending less time in pubs!
Lammtarra95@reddit
Rise of WFH means no going down the pub after work.
More non-drinkers through religion or choice. Note that a lot of surviving pubs (including Spoons) are now glorified cafés for half the day and a cheap restaurant for the rest, in order to attract the non-drinking crowd.
And to an extent it is a vicious circle. The pub a short walk down the road has closed, and I can't drive to the next one (or I can but can't drive home again after a few pints) so the habit is broken for me and never forms for the next generation who don't have and never have had a "local". So more pubs close.
OrganizationLast7570@reddit
Either my garden or the neighbour's workshop
M23ueno@reddit (OP)
Ooooo thank you for this, will give a try
Abject-Direction-195@reddit
Cost. Simple fact
dbxp@reddit
Price is the big one
A number of old man pubs only ever tried to cater to regulars and were actively hostile to certain demographics.
Also it's no longer acceptable for a dad to go to the pub after work and leave their misses with the kids
DaveBeBad@reddit
Or for most of the country, go to the pub after work, then drink-drive home…
It’s only really the bigger towns and cities where you can get home easily from work without a car
setokaiba22@reddit
We talk about price and yes prices of pints have gone up. But it’s not 2008, 2000 anymore. Everything has. Whilst I agree the jump in price by almost 100% in some cases in the past 20 years is a lot people can still afford it we see that - many pubs and bars are rammed on weekends and evenings still.
We’ve seen a change in culture, and cost of course. But the industry has continually evolved. With the wages , energy it’s just not what it used to be - and realistically a lot of places that have closed are places that weren’t getting footfall to begin with and that was an issue.
geeered@reddit
Reddit?
M23ueno@reddit (OP)
Love this
Swimming_Possible_68@reddit
I know pubs can't help the cost of beer, food etc, but honestly, as someone who has been a regular pub goer for over 30 years, a standard pint being £5, even here in the Midlands, did it for me.
It's the speed of the price increase to get there too. It seemed to creep up from 1.50 / £2 being normal (with a pound a pint being achievable still) in the 90s and even early 2000s to £3-3.50 in the mid to late 2010s (although I do remember paying a fiver for a pint of Peroni in London in about 2018 and being shocked!).
Now, even in my local, it's pretty much 4.50 minimum, but you can easily spend £6-7. My wages have simply not gone up as much of a pint of beer!
I used to go to the pub just because it was a nice thing to do. Now I need a reason (a celebration or an event) to go. If it was a sunny Saturday afternoon, I would go and have a couple of pints in the pub garden, now I can't justify the cost and will sit in my own garden with a beer.
Dissidant@reddit
Mixture of reasons. Its expensive and people are struggling
Young people are drinking less, but I can't fault the ones who do not wanting to support the pubs after the way they were chucked under the bus during covid
tdrules@reddit
The pub isn’t a place to meet people it’s a place to meet mates. And there’s a lot of third spaces now where it’s cheaper and more enjoyable to do that now.
I love the pub, but I don’t blame younger people for turning their backs on them.
w1gglepvppy@reddit
Very high business rates, rent, duty, which reflects in high costs for a customer.
I'm old enough to remember when £3 was seen as being expensive for a pint. The average cost is approaching £6-7 now. Wages certainly haven't doubled in that time.
Changes in lifestyle and demographics, certainly, but good pubs should have a decent selection of NA options.
Good pubs can usually stay open and draw a crowd, there's even space in the market for those hungry horse/harvester type pubs you see on retail parks. I can't remember the last time I saw a flat roof estate pub still in operation.
explorer9898@reddit
The pub nearest me is absolutely rammed at the weekend still and quite busy even during the week
gogginsbulldog1979@reddit
When I was 21, I'd go to the pub on Saturday afternoon about 2pm and wouldn't leave till it closed. If you did that now, you'd need a few hundred quid.
Aged 46, I go to the pub for a couple of drinks and leave. If I go with my partner, it's about £14 a round, which is absurd. I'd rather just get some booze and go home.
It's pretty sad as pubs are a big part of British culture. I've got an 16 and an 18 year old and their Saturday nights are spent in their rooms on their phones. It's pretty sad.
denjin@reddit
Many things, less alcohol consumed in general, the tax structure hits on sales much harder then offsales mea ING supermarkets can charge a lot less for cans than a pub can for pints, shift away from in person socialising to online and group chats etc for catchups and staying in touch, community cohesion has decreased dramatically meaning those traditional focal points for a local area (village, town, neighbourhood etc) such as pubs but also working men's clubs, social clubs, churches have all decreased dramatically as well as people focus less on common activities and goals and more on individual persuits.
The heyday of the pub is long gone, there will always be a market but it'll be vastly different and smaller than it ever was.
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