Landlords call time on pub trade

THESE sad photographs highlight the decline of an industry, as pubs in Plymouth face their toughest year in decades.

Among the dozen or so boozers with closed doors are everything from trendy city centre bistros to historic pubs with a reputation for fine ales.

With landlords blaming a cocktail of the smoking ban, credit crunch and availability of cheap supermarket booze, many industry insiders are predicting a tough 2009 for Plymouth's pubs.

One of the most recent causalities looks to be The Funky Judge in St Andrew Street, a prime city centre location.

The lease on the bar and bistro was put up for sale last week, with one of the original owners telling The Herald he believed a sudden loss in trade had led to plummeting profits.

Historic Barbican pub Porters, in Looe Street, closed its doors unexpectedly just before Christmas.

Owner Enterprise Inns, said the pub, which has been serving cask ales since 1852, would be reopening 'soon', although they could not give a timescale.

Chairman of the Plymouth Licensed Leisure Association, Peter Jones, has warned of worse times ahead, as people continue to watch their pennies.

He told The Herald: "A lot of pubs have stayed opened up for Christmas, but then the bills come in from the brewery."

He said pubs would be particularly pushed to keep their trade from students. "They will have been home for Christmas and their parents will be telling them to cut down on spending," said Mr Jones.

"So I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of student pubs really suffer this year. The proliferation in North Hill and Mutley Plain could be damaging."

Last week, pub 'troubleshooter' Stefan Williams warned January and February would be 'knockout time' for the industry in the city.

With almost two decades' experience of rescuing pubs from the brink of collapse, he said his company, Southern Image Licensing Consultants, was being inundated with calls from desperate landlords.

He said cheap supermarket booze was one of the major problems – an opinion shared by Peter Jones.

Tesco, for example, said it sold ten per cent more alcohol in the lead-up to New Year compared to the same time last year, as a result of low prices.

"We're under pressure now to drop prices," Mr Jones said. "But if we do it's the end of the road.

"The government are bringing in more controls on us – but they're not bringing in controls on supermarkets' prices are they?

"People's habits are changing and we have to adapt to a different market.

"But what market is out there?"

Other city pubs with closed doors include another Enterprise Inns property, The First and Last in Exeter Street. It has been closed for around six months while the brewer struggles to find a buyer, and 'for sale' signs and even a banner now adorn the side of the building.

Meanwhile, The Pennycomequick has been boarded up and on the market for around the same length of time, with the landlords' whereabouts remaining a mystery.

For decades the pub, on the corner of Central Park Avenue and Alma Road, was bustling with football fans on Plymouth Argyle matchdays.

Pub closures in the UK as a whole were up 33 per cent in 2008, compared to 2007, while The Campaign for Real Ale said it feared 7,500 more could vanish by the end of 2012.

Andrew Pring, editor of the publican's Morning Advertiser newspaper said the crisis was not unique to Plymouth.

He told The Herald 36 pubs were now closing every week nationwide – an average of more than five per day.

Mr Pring said: "Twelve closed down pubs in Plymouth is very worrying stuff. It's a result of all the factors really.

"Pubs were in decline anyway before the smoking ban but everyone thought things would level out two years after it came in. The credit crunch has offset that."

He also said smaller pubs were being forced to pay over the odds, while supermarkets and larger chain pubs could purchase cheaper beer, making their prices unbeatable.

Mr Jones agreed. He said: "It's pretty tight anyway. Everyone goes on about the smoking ban, but it's the proliferation of the chains.

"It's the evenings that are the worst in fact – if you serve lunch then the day times are reasonably buoyant, but the nights are getting tougher."

However, not all of the city's pubs are struggling for business. Noah's Ark boss Richard Smith, who also chairs Plymouth's Pubwatch group, said his pub saw 20 per cent growth over the festive period.

Meanwhile, the owners of the former Significant Half reopened the New George Street pub under the name of Nectar bar just before Christmas.

But on the side of the Mutley Tavern, in Kensington Road, sits a sign declaring 'Price Reduced'. The Admiral Taverns pub stopped serving around three months ago, despite being popular with locals for many years.

And no buyer has come forward for the former No Place Inn in North Road West, which closed last year.

Meanwhile, The Old Road Inn in Laira also shut up shop around six months ago, just after The Billacombe Tavern in Plymstock. Both pubs sit on roads teeming with traffic, but appear to have been hit hard by the crunch.

In Honicknowle, the Woodland Fort Inn looks as though it has called last orders for the final time. The pub was closed more than two years ago and all signs of its former life have since been painted over.

In another sign of the times Peninsula Inns, which runs 18 pubs in the South West, entered administration last month. New company Enlighten Inns snapped up 12 of the premises.

David Bailiss, Torquay-based Peninsular's boss, also blamed a combination of the credit crunch, smoking ban and rising utility costs.

What do you think? How can the pub trade weather the economic storm? Have your say at www.thisisplymouth.co.uk or email yoursay@theplymouthherald.co.uk. Or you can write to Your Say, The Herald, 17 Brest Road, Derriford, Plymouth PL6 5AA.

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