Thousands of UK pubs are at risk of closure unless the government provides urgent support to help them cope with soaring energy bills, the beer industry has warned. In a letter to the government and Conservative leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, the British Beer and Pub Association said mass job losses were inevitable without intervention.
Unlike households, businesses do not benefit from a cap on energy prices, leaving many pubs facing bills that have increased more than fivefold. The bosses of companies owning nearly half of Britain's 47,000 pubs said tenants were already giving notice due to unaffordable energy costs.
Nick Mackenzie, chief executive of Greene King, which runs 3,100 pubs, said the sector was still recovering from the Covid pandemic and that without immediate government help, ‘beloved locals across the country could be forced to close their doors’. Kevin Georgel, his counterpart at St Austell Brewery, said thousands of pubs could be forced to call last orders for good.
Chris Jowsey, chief executive of Admiral Taverns, described the impact as ‘frightening’, citing a licensee who gave notice after electricity costs rose by 450%. Pubs typically buy energy on fixed-price contracts, but some suppliers are refusing to offer deals to hospitality businesses, leaving them on expensive out-of-contract rates or demanding deposits as high as £10,000.
The energy crisis is compounded by above-inflation rises in other costs, including aluminium for beer cans and carbon dioxide used in bottling. Mark Holden, who runs three pubs in Cornwall, saw his gas bill jump from £5,800 to £24,000 after his supplier went under. He said the industry was heading for a cliff edge, particularly if business rates return to full levels.
