CAMRA calls on government help after pub closures hit 28 a week
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has called on the Government to help save pubs after research found that net weekly closures had risen from 26 to 28.
In its latest CGA-CAMRA Pub Tracker, which covers April-December 2013, CAMRA found that the number of net pub closures in the UK had risen from 26 to 28 per week.
The campaigner aid that high rents and inflated beer prices charged by pub operators were most to blame for the closures, and claimed that 16 of the 28 closing pubs were leased and tenanted businesses.
CAMRA called the findings a clear sign that "much more needs to be done to protect pubs".
Chief executive Mike Benner said that the Government should implement an independent Pubs Watchdog, and give licensees of large pub companies the option to choose market-rent-only agreements, so they can then buy beer at cheaper prices.
He said: "Pubs are unnecessarily closing as tied licensees struggle to make their businesses succeed thanks to increased rents and inflated beer prices.
"It is vital that the Government step in to redress the balance."
The same study also found that 57% of pubco licensees report earning less than £10,000 a year, compared to 25% of free of tie lessees.
According to the British Beer and Pub Association, the number of pubs in the UK dropped from over 60,000 in 2002 to less than 50,000 in 2012, and counting.