Are pubs finished?


british culture is changing, and the downfall of the local pub is a side effect of that

people just don't go out to socialise in person as much any more. it can all be done from your smart phone from the comfort of your couch

i remember in the 90s me and my sister would be babysat every single saturday night by my nana and granda whilst me mam and dad were out. was a weekly routine. if that happened now the parents would be derided. then you add in the cost of going out, and its even less attractive

then you can add into the mix the massive influence of being encouraged to live healthier lifestyles, theres more and more people drinking less and less, eating healthier and generally looking after themselves more than in previous generations, its big business now

add into that the abundance of other things there are to do nowadays, especially with children, and its another blow for the pub. taking kids on days out is a weekly occurance on the weekend now for loads of families, theres stacks to do. in the 90s we rarely went anywhere organised, we just played out all day.

i remember parenting when we were kids, literally getting thrown out the back of the pub with the other kids to kick a ball around the back lane and be happy with a bottle of pop and packet of scampi fries.

then you also have the social media aspect of things, where many people only get once every couple of months, so it has to be a big special one, not a saturday down the local

covid hasn't helped like. and the price of beer along with every other thing you do in this country being a fortune adds into the mix. combined, its not a good mix. i still think my first point above is having the biggest effect
 
Were pubs that busy mid-week pre-Covid?

I seem to remember the one in our village operating on reduced hours for a long while before that - ie closed on a Tuesday.
Correct ,they were closing and in decline pre covid ,still are ,so its not a new thing .Hopefully a few can sustain the trade they have .I was out 12 til 6 saturday and it was decent numbers in town .That was in the bars people say are expensive .They'll always have their place .Not everyones a settee ace lager drinker
 
100 years ago there was a pub on every street corner and it was the place to go to for heat and light.

they were that for 100s of years, along with the place to go to socialise with people, otherwise you'd be alone in your house.

like many other aspects of life, things changing isn't anything new, but the speed at which they have changed in the past couple of generations will be very alarming especially to older people
 
Correct ,they were closing and in decline pre covid ,still are ,so its not a new thing .Hopefully a few can sustain the trade they have .I was out 12 til 6 saturday and it was decent numbers in town .That was in the bars people say are expensive .They'll always have their place .Not everyones a settee ace lager drinker

yep i think the number of bars, and the spread of different types of bars will reduce massively and reconfigure itself to match demand. there might only be 25% of the bars that existing in the 60s, but there will be demand for that 25% , so the ones that find their place should thrive.

personally, i just like drinking pubs where they don't sell food, and those will be the hardest to maintain. people don't go out and get pissed midweek anymore
 
You already said mate


The King of spam mentioning repetition..... :D
 
My local which is a freehouse does canny.

Has dead periods and Monday to Thursday will often close at 9pm..

Early doors 5-7pm it does very good money and weekends all day..

Especially once weather is better the garden will be chockq
 
The biggest problem at the minute is the lack of taxis. You used to be able to ring a taxi at any time of day or night and it would be there in under 10 minutes. Now you have to ring 8 numbers before you can get one within the hour. It stops people moving about so freely.
I know people who won’t venture into town cos it’s difficult to get a taxi there so they don’t think they’ll be able to get home (even though there are loads at the rank).
People are weak willed and would rather give up and drink at home than find another way to get to the pub.
 
I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of pubs went to a Thursday-Sunday schedule. I reckon there will be a lot of pubs who barley make enough to pay the staff and keep the lights on monday-Wednesday. As for finished all together, nee chance. Weekends are a gold mine for an even half popular boozer.
The non peak trade still makes a contribution towards fixed costs so this wouldn't be a good idea.
 
I said they were during covid and I stand by it. In the 90s there used to be groups of mates female and male went on pub crawls in every town and city in the UK. Doesn’t happen these days and bars are closing all over the place. Pints cost a fortune and loads won’t pay it.
Two local pubs to me are being turned into corner shops now. Sad to see. Newcastle centre was busy on Saturday afternoon when I was out but came back to Sunderland and went for a couple in Port of Call and it was dead by 10pm.
Think pub crawls are still happening in most towns

Its the village pubs or out of town pubs that are struggling

Pubs cant live on beer profits alone in these places, they need good food and good food deals
This. The copt hill finally looks to have got it right now judging on my visit last week after having loads of short term tenants over recent years. Hope it does well.
 
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The Mill was bouncing on Saturday afternoon.

Think it does ok during the weeks as well.

Some.of the other locals ones, I have no idea how they survive.

The Brit in houghton seems full 24/7.
That used to be my local along with the White and of course the Buffs. Plenty of pubs and clubs in the 70’s. Houghton was a Mecca. Red and White 100%. Rough place .
I was in York on Saturday. Packed all over
Situated in the middle of the country, benefits from tourism and mainline train station. Folk come from North, south, east and west. Rarely any bother, no edge.
 
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not really, my local is doing aright, would have plenty of money in the bank anarl but the electric and gas have put a dint in adding more to it.

Monday rammed all day with older retired folk, on the night get about 40/50 people playing poker, few drinkers, most drink fizzy pop (make more money on that than drink)
Tuesday - dead (opens at 7 like) only really busy if sunderlands on.
Wedneday - see above
Thursday - opens at 5, poker night on again (bigger money than the monday) gets about 20 people in for just that then add the thursday start of weekend, mainly drinkers.
Friday - busy from 2pm till 1am as have some decent bands on a night
Saturday - hectic all day till about 1am
Sunday - just the bar but busy all day

need to take £3500 to break even, currently taking about £5/7k a week.

other places i can see falling by the wayside though.
 
More and more are becoming shops
These two are about 100 metres apart. There will be 7 corner shops. 4 of them which will be Premiers in less than a mile stretch. In that same stretch of road there will only be the cricket club and one other pub.

That being said when I do go out I usually go to Sunderland so I guess I'm part of the problem.
 
These two are about 100 metres apart. There will be 7 corner shops. 4 of them which will be Premiers in less than a mile stretch. In that same stretch of road there will only be the cricket club and one other pub.

That being said when I do go out I usually go to Sunderland so I guess I'm part of the problem.
That pub on the roundabout is a bit of a crazy place for a shop to be
 

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