Can any pubs carry on?
Discussion
Just back from my local, that I have known for the last thirty years and it was dead. Not at all like when I first went there, you were three/six deep trying to be served.
Said to my friend about it and he said something I had not even thought about, that the kids do not go down the pub after work like we did, they do not meet people like we did.
So does this mean that all our generations after us will only meet anyone via the internet.
For myself, I have enjoyed meeting new people/friends down the local pubs and have had relastionships that have lasted many years.
I know that the smoking ban has killed things but are your local pubs a thing of the past?
Said to my friend about it and he said something I had not even thought about, that the kids do not go down the pub after work like we did, they do not meet people like we did.
So does this mean that all our generations after us will only meet anyone via the internet.
For myself, I have enjoyed meeting new people/friends down the local pubs and have had relastionships that have lasted many years.
I know that the smoking ban has killed things but are your local pubs a thing of the past?
Drifting said:
Just back from my local, that I have known for the last thirty years and it was dead. Not at all like when I first went there, you were three/six deep trying to be served.
Said to my friend about it and he said something I had not even thought about, that the kids do not go down the pub after work like we did, they do not meet people like we did.
So does this mean that all our generations after us will only meet anyone via the internet.
For myself, I have enjoyed meeting new people/friends down the local pubs and have had relastionships that have lasted many years.
I know that the smoking ban has killed things but are your local pubs a thing of the past?
No, it just means a lot of people are skint/knackered/detoxing after xmas and new year (hopefully).Said to my friend about it and he said something I had not even thought about, that the kids do not go down the pub after work like we did, they do not meet people like we did.
So does this mean that all our generations after us will only meet anyone via the internet.
For myself, I have enjoyed meeting new people/friends down the local pubs and have had relastionships that have lasted many years.
I know that the smoking ban has killed things but are your local pubs a thing of the past?
I say hopefully as the decline of pubs in this country (number and quality) is not good.
I agree it's not just the smoking ban, but i had to laugh at a former neighbour that wanted the smokers out(you know the type moan moan bloody moan). Now he is moaning that he has to walk half a mile further due to the pub closing down, which was due in no small part to the pub further up the road having a nice smoking area and heaters.
B17NNS said:
The smoking ban has killed the industry.
All of the 'I'd go to pubs if they were not full of smokers' types never actually went.
Rubbish stupid prices for a pint is what's killing the pub. What's the point of spending nearly £3 a pint when you can buy a crate of something for £10-£15. Perhaps if most pubs weren't selling something that can easily be bought in a supermarket for a lot less then they'd have more custom.All of the 'I'd go to pubs if they were not full of smokers' types never actually went.
wiggy001 said:
No, it just means a lot of people are skint/knackered/detoxing after xmas and new year (hopefully).
I say hopefully as the decline of pubs in this country (number and quality) is not good.
The town I live in was empty on new years eve. It was weird, almost like a ghost town. Half the restaurants hadn't even bothered to open, and the pub that I spent the evening in was queiter than I would expect for a normal weekend night.I say hopefully as the decline of pubs in this country (number and quality) is not good.
I've never been a big pub goer, but did meet my missus in one, she was a barmaid 
Worked in the same pub too a while later. I was shocked to hear that same pub, which is what I'd call my "local" going bump well before xmas 
However, whenever we went there to drink, nice smoke free atmosphere or not, it was way too expensive. £2.70 for a pint of Guiness! I know they've got overheads to pay for, but in the current climate, people aren't willing to pay over the odds for a simple drink.
I've also seen a lot of pubs in this area of South Manchester going bump too.
Who'd be a landlord eh?
Worked in the same pub too a while later. I was shocked to hear that same pub, which is what I'd call my "local" going bump well before xmas However, whenever we went there to drink, nice smoke free atmosphere or not, it was way too expensive. £2.70 for a pint of Guiness! I know they've got overheads to pay for, but in the current climate, people aren't willing to pay over the odds for a simple drink. I've also seen a lot of pubs in this area of South Manchester going bump too.
Who'd be a landlord eh?
Jsys said:
Rubbish stupid prices for a pint is what's killing the pub. What's the point of spending nearly £3 a pint when you can buy a crate of something for £10-£15. Perhaps if most pubs weren't selling something that can easily be bought in a supermarket for a lot less then they'd have more custom.
But pub beer has always been more expensive than supermarket beer. It didnt all of a sudden go to £3 a pint the day after the smoking ban.Thats like saying why go out for a meal when I can knock up a fishfinger sandwich for me and the mrs for 50p.
People go to pubs for a drink, a smoke and a bit of banter.
The added value is the environment.
Drifting said:
Just back from my local, that I have known for the last thirty years and it was dead. Not at all like when I first went there, you were three/six deep trying to be served.
Said to my friend about it and he said something I had not even thought about, that the kids do not go down the pub after work like we did, they do not meet people like we did.
So does this mean that all our generations after us will only meet anyone via the internet.
For myself, I have enjoyed meeting new people/friends down the local pubs and have had relastionships that have lasted many years.
I know that the smoking ban has killed things but are your local pubs a thing of the past?
Seems poignantly ironic that this is raised as a topic for discussion................................Said to my friend about it and he said something I had not even thought about, that the kids do not go down the pub after work like we did, they do not meet people like we did.
So does this mean that all our generations after us will only meet anyone via the internet.
For myself, I have enjoyed meeting new people/friends down the local pubs and have had relastionships that have lasted many years.
I know that the smoking ban has killed things but are your local pubs a thing of the past?
in a virtual pub
My local which is a cracking 1700s building just a few minutes walk from me is a lovely pub. Its staffed by a good crowd and I enjoy drinking there. Trouble is that for me and the mrs, a pint of carling and a coke is over a fiver. Last time we were out an evening cost us over 50 quid and we were hardly at 'full throttle'.
The same week I had found that carling slabs (24x 440ml) were a tenner in Sainsburys. Coke too was cheap on a buy 2 get one free.
For 13:37 then there was enough to have the same night twice over. I know theres overheads etc with pubs but the mark up, especially on soft drinks is very high.
Pubs like wetherspoons never have trouble attracting drinkers despite the horrors found within....
The same week I had found that carling slabs (24x 440ml) were a tenner in Sainsburys. Coke too was cheap on a buy 2 get one free.
For 13:37 then there was enough to have the same night twice over. I know theres overheads etc with pubs but the mark up, especially on soft drinks is very high.
Pubs like wetherspoons never have trouble attracting drinkers despite the horrors found within....
Jsys said:
B17NNS said:
The smoking ban has killed the industry.
All of the 'I'd go to pubs if they were not full of smokers' types never actually went.
Rubbish stupid prices for a pint is what's killing the pub. What's the point of spending nearly £3 a pint when you can buy a crate of something for £10-£15. Perhaps if most pubs weren't selling something that can easily be bought in a supermarket for a lot less then they'd have more custom.All of the 'I'd go to pubs if they were not full of smokers' types never actually went.
High tax's on the drinks they serve
If you are a leasehold from a brewery, higher keg prices than if you were freehold, and the ability to buy beer from who you chose.
Change in peoples habits - longer working hours, TV was rubbish years ago, electronic age provides more hours of entertainment each day than years ago, more people taking time to cook dinner and have a glass of wine wiht the OH etc..
Higher operating costs (insurance, big screen tv's/sky, licence fees/red tape costs, building costs to keep the smokers, updating kitchens to get the food trade in to keep pints at a saleable price and food has a higher return etc.)
So like any other business, if your revenue drops along with your profit, you raise prices and hope it doesn't reduce your customers or close.
This goes from what I have read from pub landlords (no surprise there are a few on here), speaking to the guys behind the bar at my locals, and a few mates who have been in the trade over the years.
Well I haven't been in a pub since the day the smoking ban came in...so thats one they lost.
But then the landlord and landlady sold up on the same day too.
Was a thriving pub, did meals etc. Only had one smoking room, the other three were non smoking.
Anyway, its dead as a doornail now.
I nipped in a couple of weeks ago to get the phone number of a regular (a builder) and he's moved on too. Pub was empty.
Could be just the change of landlord, could be the smoking ban, could be a lot of things.
But it's on it's uppers now.
But then the landlord and landlady sold up on the same day too.
Was a thriving pub, did meals etc. Only had one smoking room, the other three were non smoking.
Anyway, its dead as a doornail now.
I nipped in a couple of weeks ago to get the phone number of a regular (a builder) and he's moved on too. Pub was empty.
Could be just the change of landlord, could be the smoking ban, could be a lot of things.
But it's on it's uppers now.
We have just got back from our local bar, here in Italy. and everywhere, there are signs saying "Vietato fumare", BUT, every customer, without exeption, smoked, and I did have a couple of fags, and a very nice cigar, on the house, to go with my, what I can only describe as an 80 Cent Qadrouple brandy - it was fantastic - even though I haven't smoked for over a year. I think the UK take way too seriously the rules that other countries allow their general populace to decide, and NOT the very vocal minority - - I hope that's fairly cohearent!.
Not that I'm unaware of some other pubs that are struggling but I thought I'd offer a different view. The pub I'm currently in is a real hub of the community, full almost all the time and just had an amazingly busy December, including the highest grossing day in the past year, and the highest grossing week since 2001. It is busy almost every night of the week, and many of our regulars young and old know each other purely through coming in the pub for a drink.
Pubs certainly have changed over the last generation or so and it is usually the ones who fail to adapt to the changes that struggle. Food has become much more important, as has coming up with inventive ways to get the punters through the door, and catering to a different type of clientele including families (at appropriate times)
As regards the comments on the price of a pint - by the time all the fixed costs and overheads have been taken off there is not a huge amount of profit left out of a pound. I do believe that the disparity between pub prices and off sale prices is the biggest driver in the decline of pub drinking and not the smoking ban as virtually all pubs have reacted by providing heaters, patios and smoking areas and from what I have seen it hasn't really put many people off. The reason for the big price difference is that the taxes levied on alcohol are different for on and off sales and are far higher for pubs than supermarkets. I hate to add to the general sourness on here about the government but I'm afraid it has a lot to do with them!
Pubs certainly have changed over the last generation or so and it is usually the ones who fail to adapt to the changes that struggle. Food has become much more important, as has coming up with inventive ways to get the punters through the door, and catering to a different type of clientele including families (at appropriate times)
As regards the comments on the price of a pint - by the time all the fixed costs and overheads have been taken off there is not a huge amount of profit left out of a pound. I do believe that the disparity between pub prices and off sale prices is the biggest driver in the decline of pub drinking and not the smoking ban as virtually all pubs have reacted by providing heaters, patios and smoking areas and from what I have seen it hasn't really put many people off. The reason for the big price difference is that the taxes levied on alcohol are different for on and off sales and are far higher for pubs than supermarkets. I hate to add to the general sourness on here about the government but I'm afraid it has a lot to do with them!
A quick bit of googling:
http://news.icm.ac.uk/business/pint-of-beer-could-...
http://news.icm.ac.uk/business/pint-of-beer-could-...
CAMRA in August 2008 said:
According to research by the organisation, a pint of real ale has increased 12 pence and a pint of lager has risen 14 pence in the past four months alone.
CAMRA attributes the price surge to the 10% increase in beer tax in March’s budget. Britain currently has the highest rate of beer tax in the EU, with the taxman receiving 80p in duty and tax for every pint sold in a pub.
The average price of a pint of real ale is currently £2.59 whilst lager costs £2.82.
CAMRA attributes the price surge to the 10% increase in beer tax in March’s budget. Britain currently has the highest rate of beer tax in the EU, with the taxman receiving 80p in duty and tax for every pint sold in a pub.
The average price of a pint of real ale is currently £2.59 whilst lager costs £2.82.
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