Date: 21-10-25  Time: 17:46 pm

Author Topic: So why are Pubs closing all over London?  (Read 6463 times)

Slaninar

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #25 on: 15 May 2013, 03:16:23 pm »
Its closer to 4.50 a pint rather

I remember a walking past a drunk English tourist yelling on his mobile: "mate, you must come here, it's xxx euros per pint!"  (don't remember the price he quoted, but it was funny still). Beer here is around 1.5 euros in pubs. For 2 euros you can get really nice German beer. I remember days when beer cost around 0.2 euros in pubs and it was good!  :)

At the stores, prices are 2 to 4 times lower. Pubs thrive in my city - we love to drink and eat obviously.  :)

DILLIGAFF

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #26 on: 15 May 2013, 03:54:59 pm »
I am sitting in my local with a glass of diet cola (from the gun) and wondering why they charged me £3.20, and its not even a pint.


Last night I was in a Weatherspoons which was packed. Drinking a very pleasant bitter, HOBGOBLIN, at just £2.19/pint   :thumbup

Chillum

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #27 on: 15 May 2013, 04:41:34 pm »
I stopped going to the pub when they removed the pinball machines, arcade machines, pool tables and dart boards.

I used to love going to the pub and playing a few games with my mates and listening to the juke box.

Simon.Pieman

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #28 on: 15 May 2013, 04:59:50 pm »
I stopped going to the pub when they removed the pinball machines, arcade machines, pool tables and dart boards.

I used to love going to the pub and playing a few games with my mates and listening to the juke box.

20 years ago I used to live in Stratford East London and I was a very competitive when it came to pinball. I used to go round all the pubs playing the machines and making sure my initials 'SIP' were displayed on the high score screen. I can proudly boast that for a stretch of two whole weeks I held the high score on EVERY machine in the Stratford area.
 One day we did the usual pub crawl and found the initials 'RAY' has displaced mine on several machines and I spent a few bob knocking the blighter off the top spot. He did the same to me over the next few weeks until we met at last and had a brilliant shoot out and I took £50 off him and a bit more in bets with our spectators.
 On reflection, a sad way to waste time and money but quite exciting. Our fave machine was 'The Adams Family' it's the fastest game and definately the noisiest, the average score people got on this machine was about 6 million points or so, I won the shoot out with 135 billion!

locksmith

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #29 on: 15 May 2013, 05:07:31 pm »
With regards to the smoking ban, I started using pubs again when it came in!!

Oldgit

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #30 on: 15 May 2013, 05:22:42 pm »
my local pub is still going well, it has a great bunch of locals who still like a good pint after work, and they cater for birthday bashes and any other sort of celebration, the owner is a local lass and she has done the place up to good modern standards--no nutters  or zoomers get in, just decent ordinary people and she keeps it that way. :pc

Doddsie

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #31 on: 15 May 2013, 06:39:18 pm »


On the pub front, Wetherspoons can do cheap because of there buying power when it comes to stock.




How can weatherspoons have a better buying power of beer than the breweries do???  Weatherspoons make less profit per pint than any brewery owned pub does, but they make big overall profits because they sell more of it... reason being, they sell it cheaper. As for the food, ok, it may not be cordon bleu, but ham egg and chips with a pint for under a fiver is still good value. Cant be many people on here that hasnt payed nearly that for a burger and a mug of tea at the side of the road!!
 

Dead Eye

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #32 on: 15 May 2013, 06:47:17 pm »
I can see where people are coming from when they talk about being able to prepare better food themselves. But sometimes, it's nice to have someone else do all the legwork. At the end of the day you are going to pay for what you get most of the time - Weatherspoons is cheap and therefore the food isn't going to be the best. I have quite happily had lunch meals and the occasional meal out with friends. But for a proper dining experience, it's not somewhere I would choose

MEM62

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #33 on: 15 May 2013, 06:52:16 pm »
Unfortunately, I can't drink enough beer to keep them all in business :-(   :rollin

Simon.Pieman

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #34 on: 15 May 2013, 06:56:52 pm »

How can weatherspoons have a better buying power of beer than the breweries do???  Weatherspoons make less profit per pint than any brewery owned pub does, but they make big overall profits because they sell more of it... reason being, they sell it cheaper. 
 

 I thought they bought surplus production stock nearing its 'best by' date on the cheap. A lot of people have told me that, but they don't seem know how they know, so it might be an urban myth. Can anyone enlighten?

simonm

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #35 on: 15 May 2013, 06:57:49 pm »


On the pub front, Wetherspoons can do cheap because of there buying power when it comes to stock.




How can weatherspoons have a better buying power of beer than the breweries do???  Weatherspoons make less profit per pint than any brewery owned pub does, but they make big overall profits because they sell more of it... reason being, they sell it cheaper. As for the food, ok, it may not be cordon bleu, but ham egg and chips with a pint for under a fiver is still good value. Cant be many people on here that hasnt payed nearly that for a burger and a mug of tea at the side of the road!!
 
I heard that wetherspoons got their ale cheap as it was nearing end of life and had to be shifted quickly but I don't know if it's true or not.

Doddsie

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #36 on: 15 May 2013, 07:11:34 pm »
Even if its true, they do shift it quick so its kind of irellevent. The point im trying to make is, Manns, Marstons, Green King, Whitbreads etc all had their own breweries and their own pubs, but still had to close loads of them down as they got greedy, where as Weatherspoons ( who have to buy their beer in)  is booming because they make less profit but on a large scale... better to sell 10 pints at 1.99 than 4 pints at £3.80!!! 

locksmith

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #37 on: 15 May 2013, 07:50:48 pm »
I would think most pubs are tenanted. That is a private individual buys the lease and is then fixed in to buy the beer off the brewery at any price they choose.
So the landlord of a local pub selling say 10 barrels a week gets one price while a company like Weatherspoons go to the brewery and say we'll take 500 a week, whats your best price?

Grahamm

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #38 on: 15 May 2013, 09:03:45 pm »
With regards to the smoking ban, I started using pubs again when it came in!!

I liked the fact that I didn't come out with my clothes reeking of fag smoke even when we were sitting in the supposed "non-smoking" section...

Doddsie

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #39 on: 15 May 2013, 09:36:06 pm »
I would think most pubs are tenanted. That is a private individual buys the lease and is then fixed in to buy the beer off the brewery at any price they choose.
So the landlord of a local pub selling say 10 barrels a week gets one price while a company like Weatherspoons go to the brewery and say we'll take 500 a week, whats your best price?


Nearly all tenanted pubs are leased from the breweries, ie, they are selling their own beer to their own tenants for a set price. If they werent so greedy they could sell it to them for the same price they sell it to anyone else.


 I had a MANNS pub for 17 years yet my brother who has a Free house could buy MANNS beer cheaper than I could. I had to pay MANNS the lease for the pub,could only sell their beer (or beer brought through them Fosters, Bulmers etc)  and pay extra for the privilege of selling it for them!!


 A lot of pubs are now managed, (the landlord gets a set wage instead of the profits), hence a lot of pubs are now shit, the landlord gets a fixed wage no matter if he is busy or not, has a contract for 5 years or so then leaves for the next bloke to try his luck.
 Why waste time and money making your pub nice and working hard if youre only gonna get the same money???


Looney tune

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #40 on: 15 May 2013, 11:12:40 pm »


On the pub front, Wetherspoons can do cheap because of there buying power when it comes to stock.




How can weatherspoons have a better buying power of beer than the breweries do???  Weatherspoons make less profit per pint than any brewery owned pub does, but they make big overall profits because they sell more of it... reason being, they sell it cheaper. As for the food, ok, it may not be cordon bleu, but ham egg and chips with a pint for under a fiver is still good value. Cant be many people on here that hasnt payed nearly that for a burger and a mug of tea at the side of the road!!
 
I heard that wetherspoons got their ale cheap as it was nearing end of life and had to be shifted quickly but I don't know if it's true or not.

Spot on simonn.

Doddsie, I see where you are coming from too.

My boss has taken on a hotel, in the posh end you get superb quality food where everything is made fresh in the kitchen. Then in the bar you can get a home made burger,chips hand cut double fried and salad plus any one drink for 5 quid, also in the bar you get the same offer on steak pie, fish etc. the busiest place is the posh end !!!!!

Looney tune

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #41 on: 15 May 2013, 11:26:26 pm »
On the m25 now, just passed a sign saying " pussy outrageous " how feckin much does it cost !?

taylor

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #42 on: 16 May 2013, 08:06:05 pm »
iv,e heard the owner of witherspoons wear,s a white helmet, and is called the stig. :lol

Doddsie

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #43 on: 16 May 2013, 09:39:17 pm »
Tim Martin, clever bastard from Ireland.... the name JD Weatherspoon comes from one of his teachers who told him he was a useless twat!!!!


 Bet he loves school reunions!!!   ;)

DryRob

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #44 on: 17 May 2013, 01:14:48 am »
There are a few reasons pubs are shutting but the main driver is the price difference between pubs and supermarkets. If there was less financial incentive to getting loaded on tinnies and vodka before a night out then I'd assume, like in the past, people would go out for a drink. Why not introduce minimum pricing for supermarkets and drop the tax on alcohol served in pubs?

simonm

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #45 on: 17 May 2013, 08:33:41 am »
I'll sit here and munch on my full English brekkie at wetherspoons for £3.19.

If they sell decent cheap beer and have beer and a burger and a traditional breakfast on the menu then they will come :-P

JZS 600

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #46 on: 17 May 2013, 01:32:34 pm »
Well I'll be doing my bit to keep the pubs going later on today!

locksmith

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #47 on: 17 May 2013, 05:18:35 pm »
Top man :thumbup    have one for me and I'll have one for you :)

JZS 600

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Re: So why are Pubs closing all over London?
« Reply #48 on: 17 May 2013, 06:50:00 pm »
We'll have to try the Weatherspoons down Rochester High St one night!