Overall the problem of most pubs is simply footfall.

Research says that people visit pubs increasingly less.

The main focus of the cause of the decline for the trade is and continues to be drink purchased in the off trade and consumed at home. The price debate can only be seen as immensely imbalanced.

Take home drink produces a very marginal unit profit margin for most supermarkets. Their overhead associated drink with its total retail sales is disproportionately small compared with an on-license premise.

So there are two models at work – “low cost and margin high volume” versus “high cost and margin low volume”. The latter therefore has to offer significantly much more in way of added value experience to compete.

The first need that most pubs deliver is a place to meet other people. Many people now meet on the internet and have discussions, chats and even relationships (?) a lost group.

Pubs must fill or create that social interaction need first. Do that and they will at least stand a chance.

Pubs have always been more than places to buy a drink. They were community meeting points after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, rudimentary banks, unofficial employment exchanges and venues for the meeting of friendly societies. This loss of focus in communities is at the heart of Prince Charles’Pub Is The Hub Campaign.

Not only this, but we’re also losing the pub signs which commemorate religion royalty, heroes and the odd villain. Together they provide a pictorial history of Britain in the High Street. Their loss is like someone emptying the National Gallery.

Let’s hope that the pubs that have survived war, religious uphearval and changing times don’t now collapse under economic pressure.

Elaine Saunders
Author: A Book About Pub Names
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