Pubs. Not a habit problem.
Pubs are closing at record rates and it gets blamed on changing habits. Huw calls that nonsense. People still drink. The economics of running a pub are impossible.
THE GIST ON PUBS: "The Pub Collapse"
Why are pubs closing?
Pubs across the UK are closing at record rates. Thousands have disappeared over the last decade and it's accelerating as costs rise.
It gets blamed on changing habits: people drinking less, staying at home. Frankly, that's nonsense. People still drink, and alcohol sales haven't collapsed at the speed pubs have.
What is actually hitting them?
The economics. They're hit from every direction at once: business rates that don't reflect profit margins, energy costs among the highest in Europe, ever-increasing wages, food and drink inflation, insurance, licensing and duty.
How can you have a viable business when these costs can't be passed on without driving customers away?
What do we lose?
When a pub closes, it's not replaced with another shared space. We lose businesses and we lose status-free social spaces, where different ages mix, communities form, and people can be together without needing money, membership or a reason.
We tax and regulate pubs like luxury retail, and have built an economy that favours private consumption, supermarkets and home drinking delivery. That erodes public life. Once those spaces disappear, they don't come back.
Do you use your local?
Your take. One tap, then see how everyone else voted.
Quick answers
Why are UK pubs closing?
Costs hit from every direction: business rates, energy, wages, inflation, insurance, licensing and duty, which can't be passed on without losing customers.
Is it because people drink less?
Huw says no: people still drink, and alcohol sales haven't fallen as fast as pubs have closed.
What is lost when a pub closes?
A status-free social space where different ages mix and communities form.
See you on the next one.
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