Pubs are going through a bad patch. Since the beginning of the year, there has been an unprecedented wave of closures, and there are 7,000 fewer pubs in England and Wales than a decade ago. According to the latest figures from Altus Group, the real estate consultancy, there are now just 39,970 pubs, the lowest number on record.
The immediate reasons are plain to see: rising costs and staff shortages on top of an earlier battering during the Covid lockdowns. However, the deeper reasons are more complex and it is often the people who lament the passing of the local pub who have in part caused the decline by taking away their custom. But the story isn’t all doom and there are some fine survivors and some great transformations.
