Rural pubs hit out at high rents and supermarkets ahead of crisis summit

Country publicans caught in their worst crisis for years are blaming high rents as well as supermarket sales of cheap alcohol, for damaging their trade and shutting pubs.

Their views come in one of the most successful surveys undertaken by South Norfolk Council, where more than half of the 103 publicans contacted sent in responses.

In an analysis of the survey by the council Rural Pubs Scrutiny Task Group, the 52 hard pressed publicans from across South Norfolk also gave very low scores to the Government's flagship longer opening hours scheme and to special "two for one" offers.

Both have also been blamed for the destructive binge drinking culture in urban areas.

Now the cross-party Task Group is planning a September summit where all 103 publicans will be invited to attend.

Before then, probably in early September, the Task Group will meet a pub chain, a local brewery and the representative of a company specialising in selling pubs, to give evidence.

Chairman of the Task Group, and South Norfolk Councillor, Keith Weeks, praised publicans for responding to the survey, and said:

"I am confident that together we have a real determination to do something positive for the local trade.

“Publicans have responded magnificently to our survey and that also speaks volumes about the dreadful daily pressure they are under.

”I urge as many publicans as possible to come to our summit meeting at the end of September for which invitations will be sent out shortly.”

In the survey, the publicans assessed how strongly they felt negative and positive factors affected the trade.

In the top five negative factors: 97% of publicans blamed high rents, 96% blamed supermarkets selling cheap alcohol, 87% the tax on alcohol, 85% business rates and 85% said it was the credit crunch.

The bottom five were: smoking ban (65%), beer tie constraints (64%), drink drive laws (41%), legislation and red tape (33%), and lastly second homes (12%).

The top five positive ways to increase trade were named as: customer service (93%), good food (87%), location and passing trade (80%), being child friendly (66%) and being in good pub guides (46%).

The bottom five were: advertising and marketing (44%), theme nights or quizzes etc (44%), longer opening hours (34%), diversification (32%) and special offers like two drinks for the price of one (27%).

Related pages

• Latest news