That indispensable part of British life — the pub (public house) — is facing the worst crisis of its centuries-old history and is shutting its doors forever at the rate of at least one a day.
Leaders of the pub and brewing industries have sent a joint message to the government asking — no, pleading — for fiscal relief coupled with a demand to meet the new prime minister “at the earliest possible opportunity.”
Emma McClarkin, the chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said, “If we lose pubs, we not only lose business and the jobs that go with them but also the beating heart of communities across the country where people gather in times of need.”
In the first place, the crushing surge of energy costs is rendering chunks of the hospitality industry unsustainable. In some cases, those costs have already increased 300 percent.
There are other simultaneous factors adding to the desperation. The Ukraine war is causing significant shortages of ingredients that brewing needs. In addition, new taxes, staff shortages, competition from supermarket beverage sales, customer decline and changing tastes are all flattening the foam on the nation’s 21 million pints served daily.
The war has even affected pub food. Most of the fish served was imported from Russia; those supplies are no longer available. Inflation on other foodstuffs bought over the bar counter — the popular “pub grub” — pushed prices into almost luxury levels, especially in London.
Meanwhile, pubs in England and Wales have fallen to a record low of 39,970, a loss of 7,000 hostelries in a decade, 400 of which shut their doors in 2021. The advocacy group UK Hospitality reckons between 50 percent and 69 percent of pubs could be closed within a year.
Understandably, the industry should be asking for immediate state intervention. It is a different matter whether it will be heard above every other sector’s clamoring for special treatment.
If landlords were to charge a pint price commensurate with soaring bills, customers would have to pay $20 per beer. This is a ridiculous expectation, the industry says.
A recent Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) poll found that more than 50 percent of the British public already think the cost of a pint is unaffordable.
This is a shame because pubs draw heavily on tradition and public sentiment. In their social and recreational activities, pubs are often the only focal point of many communities. That has always been the case; McClarkin’s distress at the “real and irreversible damage” rampaging closures will cause is not just rhetorical.
She fears that vanished businesses will never re-appear. Memories of them will wither beneath new real-estate projects.
Jump to the North London “regulars” of the 200-year-old Compton Arms, made famous by the British writer George Orwell whose 1946 essay described his idea of a perfect pub.
Now it’s threatened with closure. The patrons are furious and have launched a petition, involved their member of Parliament and caught the media’s sympathetic ear.
Orwell argued that the age of licensed premises was essential for his pleasure; nothing more recent than the end of the 19th century, thank you.
Pubs are ingrained in British character and even non-drinkers can recognize them as iconic enough to be pictured on souvenir tea towels along with Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the red buses, black taxis or Edinburgh Castle.
Yes, pubs have imitators — in Canada, Australia (“hotels”), South Africa and the Nordic nations. Good things are heard about Baltimore’s oldest joint, The Horse You Came In On, where Edgar Allan Poe had his last tipple before dying in 1849.
Everyone has favorites.
Obviously, this column won’t name names — or only as echoes later if the economy should close them permanently.
