More pubs for sale

What is more, pubs also face aggressive competition from supermarkets which are feeding into a drinking-at-home culture and offering prices below that of pubs.

Enterprise Inns, the second biggest pub-owner which has more than 7,000 pubs, already announced in March this year that it expects to sell between 400 and 500 sites this year, up from 360 last year. The company is trying to reduce its GBP 3.6 billion (EUR 4.2 billion) of net debt, including an estimated GBP 650 million (EUR 758 million) of loans due to be refinanced in 2011.

In April, Punch Taverns, with 7,100 pubs Britain’s biggest pub group, posted pre-tax profits of GBP 66 million (EUR 77 million) for the six months to 6 March 2010, down from GBP 82 million (EUR 96 million) a year ago. According to reports, Punch is carrying a net debt of nearly GBP 3.7 billion (EUR 4.3 billion), which pushed the pub chain towards the brink of collapse just last year. Punch has sold more than 1,300 pubs in the past 18 months.

There are approximately 54,000 pubs in the UK. With almost 40 pubs closing every week across Britain, the rate of losses is highest in the North West, North East and East Anglia – and the number of pubs in both London and Yorkshire fell by more than 100 in just six months alone, says the British Beer and Pub Association.

The number of pubs in England, Scotland and Wales fell by 1,013 between June and December 2009 with 1,566 closing and 553 opening for business.