Last orders at the local
Traditional pubs wiped out by invasion of major chains
PUB closures have wiped out the traditional local but left large city bars and gastropubs untouched, according to a Whitehall report yesterday.
It said most of the thousands of pubs that have disappeared over the past decade are small, street corner establishments, while major chains have swept up the customers who once drank closer to home.
Nearly 16,000 local pubs – defined as those employing nine people or fewer – were lost between 2001 and 2018, which equates to 40 per cent, the Office for National Statistics report Economies of Ale found.
But the number of establishments employing teams of kitchen workers as well as bar staff has gone up by 17 per cent in the same period.
The ONS said: ‘It’s the small pubs that are disappearing, as the big pub chains consolidate their businesses around bigger bars.
‘Although lots of pubs have closed, total turnover has held up ... The remaining pubs and bars appear to have soaked up the custom from those pubs that have closed.’
It added the number of jobs in the trade has gone up 6 per cent since 2008, from 424,000 to 450,000.
‘This may be because pubs are increasingly focused on serving food as well as drink, which requires more waiting and kitchen staff,’ the ONS said.
It added that most pub jobs are low paid, and seven out of ten staff earn less than the ‘living wage’ of £10.55 an hour in London and £9 an hour in the rest of the country.
The report found that traditional working class districts on the edges of major cities have been the major losers of street corner pubs. It pointed to Barking and Dagenham, and Newham in east London as seeing a major fall in numbers, as has Luton.
Burnley, Bolton and Rochdale have also seen a heavy toll. In the Midlands, badly hit areas include Sandwell, Dudley and Walsall.
By contrast, pubs in resorts and tourist areas have thrived. Numbers have remained steady or increased in seaside towns including Scarborough, Blackpool and Brighton.
Tom Stainer, of real ale pressure group Camra, called for a cut in duty on beer sold in pubs as opposed to supermarkets.
‘These shocking figures show the huge loss felt by communities as beloved locals have closed,’ he said. ‘We need the Government to act now to save our pubs from extinction.’