I wonder what's the definition of a "pub"?
It would be interesting to know the ONS's definition. But it's good news anyway. The old-school smoke filled pub with an entirely male clientele with no food served other than a packet of old crisps and some Pork Scratchings is dead as a concept, and rightly so in my view. Drinking out is expensive these days, so nobody's going to accept crappy beer and a unfriendly, sticky carpeted atmosphere in which to have a drink. So... you either have to sell excellent beer for the money(which has to be good) or add value in the form of food(usually). Some of the pubs I foolishly stepped into in my late teens don't bear thinking about now! Landlords who looked just like Al Murray's caricature but without a hint of comedy selling appalling beer, other pubs where instant, open, and violence-threatening racism had us leaving immediately because one of our group was black or Asian. Pubs filled with acrid cigarette smoke and lino floors with sawdust on and cheese cubes on the bar in bowls(I kid you not!). People forget how rubbish a lot of pubs were, and are looking back through Rose-tinted glasses etc.
The other argument about alcohol duty doesn't wash either, reducing it will make zero difference to Pubs. All that will happen is that the supermarkets will sell it even cheaper. Pubs will still be seen as more expensive than drinking at home.
The main problem is ground rents for pubs. Some of the rents for free houses and so on are utterly insane! I knew of a pub in Camberwell with a good clientele from King's hospital whose lease ran out. The landlord took the opportunity to TRIPLE the rent to nearly a 1/4 million a year. the Pub had to close as a result, and the property was empty for several years. Eventually after being unable to change the usage coding the owner eventually leased it out again at a reasonable rent, and it's a Pub again. His greediness destroyed a business. Is that attitude likely to change with landlords anytime soon? Nope!
