Last updated at 11:51, Friday, 26 September 2008

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THE For Sale sign on Healeys pub in Barrow town centre is a sad reminder of the state of the pub trade locally.
The pub, on Hindpool Road, stood its ground amid the rise of nearby Cornwallis Street clubs, by championing live acts and pub sports.
But after 26 years in the trade landlord Dai Healey is ready to admit defeat.
Healeys will be one of a number of pubs to close across the district this year.
Industry insiders say the current downturn, coupled with soaring rates, increased beer duty and a surfeit of cheap supermarket deals, is bringing the industry to its knees.
Consequently we’ve lost The King Alfred, Dominics, The Sheffield, The Railway Club, The Abbey Tavern, The Wellington in Dalton, and others currently on the market suggest this could be part of a relentless trend of pub closures. Nationally pubs are shutting at a rate of 36 a week.
“It’s never been as bad,” said Dai Healey, who blames cost pressures, including rising energy costs, rates and beer duty.
Two brewery price increases this year mean pubs have to charge more for a pint while supermarkets have been able to cushion the extra costs.
It is no wonder then that the British Beer and Pub Association warned recently that supermarkets will take over from pubs as the biggest sellers of beer within the year if the trend continues.
A weary Mr Healey said: “They keep putting money on a pint all the time.
“At the same time you can buy 60 cans for £20 in the supermarket.
“Breweries are selling to supermarkets cheaper than to tenants.
“I’m absolutely fed up. The pub’s up for sale. I want to get out.”
Mike Fallon, proprietor of the Theatre Bar, in Cavendish Street, Barrow, and chairman of the
Licensed Victuallers’ Association, thinks the government should impose price controls on supermarkets.
He said: “The supermarkets are using alcohol as a loss leader.
“They know people on low incomes are going to do their shopping and get their beer there.
“In Barrow, if you look back, supermarkets have taken over the butchers, the tobacconist, the
paper shops, chemist, opticians and now they’re on with pubs and off-licences. I wouldn’t be surprised in the future if they took over post offices.”
Unsurprisingly, in these cash-strapped times, setting a minimum price for alcohol has proved unpopular among shoppers.
A comprehensive survey conducted by Asda found 60 per cent of shoppers opposed setting minimum prices or banning promotions.
An Asda spokesman said: “While everyone accepts that some people drink too much and the pressures this puts on public services and the public purse, penalising the vast majority of shoppers – in these tough economic times – is hugely unpopular.”
And while the pub sector is in danger of losing out to supermarkets as the biggest seller of beer, Mr Fallon believes the major breweries could do more to aid struggling tenants.
“It’s the breweries which seem to be driving the individuals out of the livelihood by increasing rents and beer prices at the drop of a hat,” he said.
“When I went into the Wheatsheaf (Mr Fallon’s previous pub) the rent was £10,000 per year.
“When I came out they wanted £24,500, over a 14-year period, as well as beer increases.
“In 1992 the lager was £1.20 a pint.
“When I came out two years ago it was £2.30 a pint.
“That’s another reason you see landlords come and go. This is the third price rise this year.
“Me being a freehouse I may have to stand it to keep competitive but it’s hard for leaseholders.
“I will get my barrels, which is 36 gallons, about £60 cheaper than a leaseholder.”
The problem landlords have is many pub-goers can’t differentiate between the tenanted and leased sector and freehold and managed pubs.
Consequently many customers find drinking in tenanted pubs
expensive compared to pub chains like Wetherspoons, which runs the Furness Railway pub in Abbey Road, Barrow.
Cyril Whiteside is landlord of the tenanted pub The Ship Inn, on Yarlside Road, Barrow.
He explained: “The tenant runs the business as your own business. You’re responsible for the bills and rent the property from the pub company or the brewery.
“I rent it from Frederic Robinson.
“I have to sign a tenancy agreement, 90 per cent of which is very much in favour of the pub company.
“The trading obligations stipulate that I have to buy all my beer, wine and spirits from them at a price they dictate.
“If I don’t I’m in breach of my tenancy agreement and can be given notice to leave the premises and can also incur heavy penalty fines.
“Brewers don’t sell to any tenants at a competitive price.
“In comparison freeholders, where somebody buys the pub themselves, are not tied to anybody so they can shop around – with Thwaites, Whitbread, Bass – and get the best deal. It’s not uncommon for pubs to buy for 40 per cent less than me.”
The Campaign for Real Ale organisation can only foresee further grief for the pub
industry.
Tony Jerome, CAMRA’s senior press manager, said: “Supermarkets are selling beer in a lot of their stores cheaper than bottled water, meanwhile we pay one of the highest beer duties in Europe now. It’s 43p per pint.
“Supermarkets can cover that by putting a penny on other products but pubs can’t do that.
“Pubs are now up 12 to 15p on a pint of beer. With the credit crunch people who liked to visit the pub three or four times a week to relax after work or catch up with mates are now thinking they may as well get some beer from the supermarket during the week and visit the pub at the weekend.
“From all reports there’s going to be more of a credit crunch.
“People will be tightening their belts a little bit more and pubs will have to put their prices up.
“Perhaps some guys who have been in the trade for 20 to 30 years will be really struggling and I think we can only really see the situation getting worse.”
Sadly it seems we may have been taking pubs for granted and unlike our post offices the shutters have been coming down without a fight.
Mr Whiteside, a licensee for 22 years, said pubs are finding times hard because the drinking culture has changed.
“When I was in my mid-20s pubs were booming,” he said.
“It was part of life. People went out to socialise, to have a craic, to play darts, dominoes and cards and to discuss the troubles of the day with their mates.
“All that has gone. We still see it portrayed in Coronation Street, EastEnders and Emmerdale but they’re the busiest pubs in the country.
“You don’t get the locals regularly. People of my father’s generation and my generation are used to a different pub culture.
“The one we’ve got now is binge drinking, pubs opening later – that’s a different culture to what I’m used to and it’s a culture that today’s younger generation are being brought up with.
“The drinking culture has been taken away from pubs and is going into the home more where people can have a cigarette if they want one.
“They can invite friends round and have dinner parties or have a good drink at home before they go to town.
“I don’t think people are drinking any less, they’re just drinking at home a lot more.
“It’s 24-hour drinking that has been the death knell of the pub trade.
“One thing the public hasn’t grasped is because we’ve got flexible opening hours we’ve also got flexible closing.
“Pubs are not obliged to open if they don’t need to and it’s not cost effective for a landlord to open every day.
“The big multiples are the ones who do best because they can open continually.
“I think the days of the pub culture as I know it have gone.
“Pubs will close gradually. This is how it will go on until you’re left with a handful that can sustain the market.”
Mr Healey, 67, agrees.
“I think this is the demise of the pub,” he said.
“Nobody’s interested in going to the pub.

. . . and here’s a pub which is opening!

THE Ship Inn in Kirkby is everything you’d want in a quintessential Lakeland pub.
Built around 1690, its slate floor, exposed beams and sandstone fireplace make it an atmospheric, welcoming pub.
“Hand on heart, when you get a few people in I think it’s one of the best pubs in the country,” said landlord, Tony Barton.
Despite its popularity the pub had to close a fortnight ago due to rising costs.
When Mr Barton took over the pub in 2002 he established a reputation for good beer and good food.
But soaring rates and wages meant the pub was haemorrhaging money.
The 30-seat restaurant couldn’t cover the outgoings leading to a loss of £16,500 last year.
Trying to recoup money where he could, Mr Barton bought energy saving lightbulbs, cut back on gas and water usage and switched to Flat Rate VAT.
“I would be full on a Saturday night for two hours but I needed to be full four nights a week,” said Mr Barton.
Struggling to keep the Ship Inn afloat, Mr Barton has closed but strength of feeling among regular customers persuaded him to give it another go.
The Ship Inn will reopen tomorrow for three evenings a week.
“It’s community feeling, not pressure, which persuaded me to reopen,” said Mr Barton.
“I must have 20 to 50 regulars at the caravan park, but it’s seasonal, that’s the problem.
“They were really upset when we shut.
“Some said the main reason they bought the caravan was because of the pub.”
The Ship Inn will open Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 7pm until late, with a quiz every Thursday.
“All I’ve been able to do is trim everything down to the wire,” he said.
“I will have someone on casual to help and run it as a very simple operation.
“Hopefully I will get enough people in to cover the costs.
“If people don’t come in, we will go.”

First published at 17:04, Thursday, 25 September 2008
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk