Calling time on popular pubs

by TIM FLETCHER

PUBS across the UK are closing down at a record rate, and those in Britain's brewing heartland is no exception. In recent years, some of the best-known pubs in the Burton and South Derbyshire area have closed down for good, while many others lie empty as their owners search for a tenant willing to take on the considerable responsibility of running a pub. Mail reporter TIM FLETCHER spoke to some of those affected by this alarming trend.

A RAINY Thursday night in Burton. The town centre is almost deserted, save for a few stragglers picking their way along the main drag.

A pack of bored looking teenagers seek shelter from the April drizzle beneath the infamous malt shovel sculpture. The wind blows their discarded chip wrappers across the High Street, like tumbleweed.

This has become an all too familiar scene in the town in recent months, as many Burtonians choose the easy option of a six-pack of lager in front of the television rather than a night out on the town.

It's a trend being repeated across the country, and one which is threatening the very existence of that most typically British of institutions, the local pub.

The credit crisis, spiralling prices, the smoking ban, the weather - whatever you blame this phenomenon on, the effects are all too visible in the number of pubs shutting their doors to punters.

The latest to close, at least temporarily, is The Old Royal Oak, in Market Place, one of Burton's most historic pubs.

The site of the former town lock-up, the premises - reputedly home to spirits other than whisky and gin according to local ghost-hunters - is believed to have been running continuously as a pub since the early 19th century.

Now it lies empty, and former licensee Byron Furness, who closed the doors on the pub last week, places the blame firmly at the politicians' door.

"Basically it's down to the obvious things - the Government putting up the tax bracket again, and the smoking ban," he says.

"In the town centre the majority of our customers smoke. People just weren't coming out and the trade isn't what it was."

"Burton is really, really quiet at the moment generally. Also you have the fact that Burton market is non-existent nowadays, so there's nothing to bring people into the Market Place."

The pub's owner, Burton-based Punch Taverns, said Mr Furness' decision was 'unfortunate' and that it would do everything possible to ensure the pub resumes trading as soon as possible.

In the meantime, 'The Oak' joins a long list of local pubs - the Bell and Brewer in Derby Street, The Navigation in Horninglow Road, the Traveller's Rest in Winshill and the Barley Mow in Church Gresley to name a few - standing idle, their future uncertain.

Others, including once proud local landmarks like the Station Hotel, in Borough Road, and the Derby Turn, in Derby Road, have either been demolished or converted into housing.

It's a matter of grave concern for the Burton and South Derbyshire branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), according to the branch's pubs officer, Mike Gibson.

"There's been a surge of pubs where they have now gone for let because it's clear that the landlords are struggling under the financial terms imposed on them by the brewer or the pub company," he says.

"I know some people blame the smoking ban - this may be a factor but personally I feel it's a relatively minor one."

"I think it's the prices to some extent, and there is also a lot of financial pressure from the breweries and pub companies."

According to the British Beer and Pub Association, around four pubs in the UK are lost every week, with nearly 1,500 closing last year, 14 times the rate recorded in 2005.

The group's public affairs spokesman, Gareth Barrett, foresees an apocalyptic future for Britain's pubs, particularly those in smaller communities, if the current trend continues.

"Potentially many villages and even slightly bigger communities may be facing a future without a pub, something which would have seemed inconceivable ten years ago," he says.

"The pub has been the centre of every village for centuries and losing it just adds to the wider breakdown in communities."

Mr Barrett blames a combination of factors for the trend, all of which are mentioned time and again by the people The Mail spoke to.

"Undoubtedly recent efforts by the government to price the industry out through tax rises aren't helping," he says. "Last year was a very bad year in terms of the weather and this year has been another bad year.

"On top of that the costs of the raw products in the brewing industry, like barley, have gone up, whilst licensees are affected, like everyone else, by the 'credit crunch' and the rise in the costs of food, heating, lighting and petrol."

Mr Barrett says the increasingly powerful major supermarkets also have a lot to answer for.

"If you look at the major stores, some of them have beer on offer at prices at least the same, if not cheaper, than before the increase in beer duty announced in the budget," he says.

"Supermarkets have such purchasing power nowadays that they are able to tell the breweries they must absorb the tax rises, and that if they try and increase the prices of beer sold in supermarkets they won't stock them any more.

"Meanwhile pubs don't have that power and they are the ones whose sales are really hit by the constant price rises."

Back in Burton, it's not all doom and gloom. Judy Doughty, licensee of the Anchor Inn, in New Street, has noticed the recent downturn in people in the town centre, but says her pub has so far not been drastically affected.

"We've been very fortunate as we haven't noticed any loss in trade and are still doing very well," she says. "We get our regulars in the daytime and we have karaoke on Fridays and Saturdays which brings a lot of people in.

"It has definitely been a lot quieter in Burton recently - I would say since the smoking ban came in. Also I really don't think there's a lot to drag people into town.

"We are holding our own at the moment but it does worry us when we hear about other pubs closing that we could go the same way. It is a business at the end of the day."

Carl Stout, landlord of another town pub, the Devonshire Arms, in Station Street, echoes the concerns of many licensees.

"It is a tough period for pubs," he says. "I think the smoking ban has had an effect - there's no doubt about that. Also people haven't got the spare cash in their back pocket they had maybe 18 months ago, with the housing crisis and the credit crunch.

"These factors together with the recent budget increases are putting on a lot of pressure."

The Devonshire, along with the nearby Cooper's Tavern in Cross Street, is hosting a beer festival at the weekend, the kind of event, says Mr Stout, that pubs increasingly need to put on to attract drinkers.

"You do have to try a lot harder these days and you can't expect people just to walk through the door - those days are gone now," he says.

"You have to try and persuade people to come in, and to be the best at what you do - that means the best beer, the best food, the best staff and the best decor.

"It's survival of the fittest - you have to adopt a positive attitude. We're here and this is our business so you either pack your bags and go and do something else or try and fight through it and be positive."