The decline in the number of pubs around England and Wales re-accelerated in the past year, new research has found.
In the past year, 412 drinking holes were demolished or converted into flats or other uses, according to an analysis of government data by property group Altus.
This compared to just under 390 pub losses in the past two years, and is the highest number of pubs lost since the Covid-hit years of 2020 and 2021.
The number of lost pubs includes those that are vacant and being offered to let, with recent reports that some pub chains own many pubs but have left them empty.
Numbers of lost pubs since Covid
Year · Pubs lost
2020 · 446
2021 · 444
2022 · 386
2023 · 386
2024 · 412
Altus also found that the number of nightclubs has fallen from 1,700 in 2013 to just 787 this year.
Pub and bar owners have been vocal in recent months about rising costs from the Budget though any follower of the sector will know that pubcos have been complaining about costs for as long as can be remembered.
Altus Group (TSX:AIF)’s Alex Probyn said: "Many publicans that I speak to are extremely worried that this could be their last Christmas given the combination of hiking the amount employers will have to pay in National Insurance, increases to the minimum wage and the business rates discount being slashed from 75% to 40% in 2025."
Pubs will face an extra £71 million from April after the implementation of the increase in employer National Insurance costs, the British Beer and Pub Association has estimated.
The reduction in the level of the business rates discount will cost pubs an extra £215 million during the 2025/26 tax year, Altus also reckons.
Probyn added that many pubs simply "will no longer be viable making plots even more attractive for alternative investment".