'Supermarkets are killing city's pubs'

PUBS in Plymouth are facing "their most troubled times in history" due to competition from supermarkets, according to a bar and alcohol wholesale firm boss.

Iain Woodhead, who owns Kularoos bar in the city centre as well as The Cellar Supplies Company, told The Herald he believed "ridiculously low" alcohol prices in supermarkets were "killing" the pub and club trade in Plymouth.

He reckons that drinkers aren't going out any more due to the impacts of the credit crunch and smoking ban – and, principally, the cheap supermarket booze which they can stay at home and drink instead.

He called on the Government to lay down regulations on the price of alcohol in supermarkets now – or suffer "a catastrophe" in the pub trade in Plymouth in the New Year.

He said: "January to March is going to be the most troubled and challenging time in the history of the licensed premises trade in Plymouth. There's been a few venues closed in the past few months – but many, many more are struggling. It's going to be a catastrophe, through no fault of their own.

"The supermarkets have completely muscled the pubs and clubs out with ridiculously low prices on alcohol and that is wrong. It's killing the trade in Plymouth – and something needs to be done now."

Mr Woodhead, who is also a director of Plymouth Raiders basketball club, said the Government needed to work with the pub trade to 'take on the supermarkets' before Britain became a 'supermarket-led state'.

He called on other pub or club owners in the city to join with him in lobbying their MPs to get the matter raised at central government in a bid to tackle the issue.

He said: "I have almost 300 customers for my licensed drinks wholesale business, TCS, in Plymouth – and so many of them are saying they are feeling the pressure.

"People, instead of going out, are staying at home drinking their cheap alcohol from the supermarkets. Many will now come out at 11pm instead of 7pm and will be really drunk. We then get the flack for that – but it is the cheap supermarket booze which has made them drunk.

"Our trade is being hit hard by this and I only see it getting worse in the New Year.

"The Government and police at the moment are on the case of the pubs due to drinks promotions. They are worried about the impact that alcohol is having on NHS – but it's not our fault, it's the supermarkets."

A Commons committee of MPs was this week warned by industry leaders that drinkers moving away from pubs to cheap alcohol from off licences was taking its toll.

Peter Jones, chairman of the Plymouth Licensed Leisure Association, added: "I have written to MPs about this. The supermarkets have been getting away with it scot free.

"About 30 pubs and clubs have been closing in a year and that trend will accelerate in the New Year."

But a spokesman for the Asda supermarket chain said: "We pride ourselves on providing great value across our entire store.

"While we understand the pressures that some pub landlords are facing, we sell millions of packets of high-quality coffee at low prices every week without putting major coffee shops out of business."

A spokesman from the British Retail Consortium, which has many supermarkets in the UK as members, said: "Customers have an entirely free choice over where, or whether, they buy alcohol.

"Going to a pub is about food, atmosphere or entertainment as much as it's about prices."