One in three pubs at risk of closure

Is the end near for more than one third of pubs and bars in the UK? According to research by R3, an insolvency trade body, which was released on 26 September 2012, 34 percent of bars and pubs have been identified as “at risk of failure” in the next 12 months.

The report, which made some waves in the UK media, states further that in London, the proportion of pubs and bars “at risk” is even higher, at 37 percent, which highlights that even the capital is not immune to the effects of the squeeze on consumer spending. The only other region worse affected than London is the South East, where 39 percent of pubs and bars are “at risk”.

The figure is compared to a national cross-sector average of 23 percent of businesses “at risk”.

Blow me down, one in three pubs is at risk? Is that really newsworthy? Which business is not “at risk” of going out of business in a country that has suffered under a recession which has gone on far longer than could have been predicted?

Of course, pubs must find it hard to bring people in through their doors if fewer and fewer Brits find the money to spend on discretionary items.

And yes, of course, the rate of failure for restaurant businesses in capital cities is higher than in the rest of the country. Ever heard of the phenomenon of over-supply?

But, let’s face it, running a bar or a pub is an uphill struggle even at the best of times. This may be small consolation to the thousands of pub- and bar-owners, who face the decision to stay open or close up. But depressing everybody with such a gloom-and-doom scenario won’t help either.