150 pubs call time since start of year amid soaring energy and food prices

10 April 2023 , 20:48

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Pubs are closing down at a worrying rate (Image: Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)

More than 150 beloved boozers have closed their doors for the last time in England and Wales over the first three months of this year.

Landlords say soaring energy costs, hikes in food prices and fewer customers in the wake of the cost of living crisis are to blame.

Analysis of official Government data by the commercial real estate intelligence firm Altus Group shows that the overall number of pubs in England and Wales, including those vacant and being offered to let, dropped to 39,634 at the end of the first quarter to March 31.

It showed that 153 pubs vanished for good compared with the 39,787 pubs recorded in England and Wales at the end of 2022.

The data showed that 51 pubs were lost each month, accelerating from a reduction of 32 pubs a month during the whole of last year.

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More than 150 taverns have closed their doors so far this year. Pictured: The Prince of Wales in Solihull, West Midlands (Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)

The rate of pubs being demolished or redeveloped for other purposes has increased by almost 60% at the start of the year as bumper energy bills have hammered the sector.

Pubs have no longer been recorded in Government data once they have been demolished or converted to other types of use such as homes, offices or even day nurseries. In 2022, 386 pubs called last orders for the final time.

The British Beer and Pub Association warned that the average energy bill for a pub would rise by £18,400 a year from this month with the Energy Bill Relief Scheme ending.

Natasha Wynarczyk