Has Covid and inflation killed pubs and clubs?

My perception was that the pubs were starting to decline around the millennium and many suffered when they were wanting to charge people exorbitant amounts to get in and 'celebrate' New Year. That wasn't the root cause but I do remember a lot of publicans being unhappy with the imposition by breweries looking to make a fast buck. There was a move from alcohol to various 'rave drugs' anyway and many of my brothers never really drank much, just took some pills and danced - their intake being mainly water or soft drinks.

Agree with Centralscrutinizer though that Covid and the current energy/food situation is killing what was already fragile, for instance over Christmas in the village the club was only half full and the pubs barely full even on the old 'big days' like Boxing Day.

Times have certainly changed - there seems to be a shift from that social hub in the pub to the screen in the home.
 
It's certainly affecting some pubs. At the Cross Keys on the Guisborough road it used to be difficult to get a seat on a Friday or Saturday night. Even leading up to Christmas it was virtually empty when I was there. Conversely I went up to the Lion at Blakey on Sunday lunch time and it was properly rammed. Even an overflow car park was full. A good reputation and meals seems to make the difference for some pubs.
 
Greedy breweries have killed pubs with ridiculous beer costs and rents for landlords.
Clubs - certainly from my own experience (getting older!) going out clubbing became a more dangerous pastime in the 2000s with a huge increase in coked up d*ckheads wanting to kick off. And being in Manchester with the gun problems certainly made you extremely wary about how dangerous, not fun, it had become.
 
It's certainly affecting some pubs. At the Cross Keys on the Guisborough road it used to be difficult to get a seat on a Friday or Saturday night. Even leading up to Christmas it was virtually empty when I was there. Conversely I went up to the Lion at Blakey on Sunday lunch time and it was properly rammed. Even an overflow car park was full. A good reputation and meals seems to make the difference for some pubs.
I tried to book a table for 12 on Xmas day at the cross keys. I was told no because 6 is the biggest table they are doing. I said ok book me 2 tables of 6. After considering my logic and a period of silence I was told 'no cant do that because we cant put the 2 tables together and you might get up and walk around'... Another establishment got our business.
 
It might be a bit of a chicken and egg situation but I think the new way of dating via apps has a lot to do with the slow down of footfall to pubs and clubs.

In the olden days you kind of had to go out to meet someone. Now you don't. Even the first real date nowadays isn't always a pub or restaurant, loads if people go for a walk or do some other activity, or just cut all that out and go straight to the good stuff 😉
 
Varying experience from me. I was chatting to the landlady of O’Connells before the Brighton game and she said their takings were the best they’d ever had on Boxing Day, even having to stop more folk going in four times in the evening as it was so full. On the other hand, the Kings Head in NUR is pretty much a ghost pub during the week and only busy when it’s sunny and the walkers are out. Mind you, nine quid for cheese on toast (they call it Welsh Rarebit, but it’s not) says it all really.
 
Playing darts in pubs and clubs was my thing in my younger years. This diminished when I married.
Lately I only go into pubs when eating and that’s been about 3 times in the past 12 months.
 
Far more to do at home than there used to be.

The internet, video games and streaming give so many options.

Even with football matches, so many people have dodgy streams and just watch them at home where they might once have watched in a pub.

The newer generations are far more online than any previous ones, it's not just pubs that are struggling in that regard.

The cost of living crisis and the increase in the number people who just don't drink will play another part too.
 
There has been a big shift in culture but it's not recent and covid and inflation aren't to blame. I started work after uni in 2008 and even then people were talking about how things had changed fairly recently. Only about 5 years earlier people used to go to the pub at lunch time, they'd go after work etc but all that had stopped. I remember Carling having a 2% beer they were marketing as the lunch time pint around 2004ish. Guessing that was to try and get people to return so it was already a thing of the past. There was a big push back against drink driving and people had started driving further afield for work so going around work time just wasn't possible for anyone wanting to not be drink-driving.

Another thing that changed was women going to work instead of staying at home. There was no longer the excuse that the blokes needed to relax after work before going home etc because household tasks, looking after kids etc is a joint responsibility.

On top of that the students became priced out of regular drinking in a pub and shifted to drinking at home. We noticed at uni that the year below us didn't go out as much and that is when the £3k per year tuition fees kicked in. People were there to get value for money from their studying. That was only exacerbated when it became £9k per year. The prices don't help either. We used to get a 4 pint pitcher for £5, now that doesn't even get you a whole pint. When I was at uni someone that didn't drink was in the minority. There are loads of non-drinkers these days and even when they drink they seem more sensible. I think social media has caused that because when I was younger I could do stupid things or make a fool of myself on a night out and my mates would have a laugh about it the next day but now it ends up on social media so everyone knows about it. Easier to avoid those situations by not getting hammered. Young people will still go out, still spend a lot of money but they have 1 big night out rather than just steadily drinking throughout the week

I don't think drugs are to blame. There has always been drugs but that didn't stop people from going to the pub.
 
Lots of pubs and especially some working men’s clubs suffered because of the smoking ban. That ban was the correct thing to do but it has had an impact too.
Cannot believe the ban came into force in 2007.
I walked straight to the bar in O'Connell's after the Millwall game, seemed very quiet for that time of night.
 
If you are purely a wet led pub you are going to struggle unless it's a freehold where you can shop around for your beers.

Food led pubs are the way forward and have been for a long time now. The big chain food pubs may struggle a bit this year because of the saturation of places they own but independents should continue to do good business.
 
Varying experience from me. I was chatting to the landlady of O’Connells before the Brighton game and she said their takings were the best they’d ever had on Boxing Day, even having to stop more folk going in four times in the evening as it was so full. On the other hand, the Kings Head in NUR is pretty much a ghost pub during the week and only busy when it’s sunny and the walkers are out. Mind you, nine quid for cheese on toast (they call it Welsh Rarebit, but it’s not) says it all really.
Food in the Kings Head is nowhere near what it used to be.
 
I’ve definitely noticed at work if I ask some of the younger guys what they are doing after work/weekend etc a lot of the time it’s going online to play games with friends.
I’m not that old at 33 but when I was early 20s I’d meet friends in the pub 2-3 times a week.
People now can not spend the money and still chat to friends at home.
 
Food in the Kings Head is nowhere near what it used to be.
I've got to agree on that, we went twice with my dad for Sunday lunch and had varying experiences. The first time was lovely but the second was very poor for what we paid. I wouldn't recommend or return to it.

Regarding pubs - There was an article on the news or that I read in the Guardian that micro/real ale pubs are booming compared to the local pub. Russ in The Chapel was saying they had been extremely busy over the Christmas period and Boxing Day was standing room only.
 
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