As hundreds of pubs face closure amid rising alcohol duty and other costs, a new survey reveals the vast majority of pensioners fear Britain will lose its community spirit if the crisis continues.
- 64% of the public believe pubs play an important role in addressing loneliness and social isolation – a figure which rises to 77% among respondents over the age of 65.
- The majority, 61%, say Britain will lose its sense of community spirit if more pubs close down – a figure which rises to 70% among those aged 65+.
- More than half of people (58%) want the government to provide more support for struggling pubs, bars, and their suppliers – a total which rises to 62% for those aged 65+.
- Older respondents (age 45+) were most likely to value the community role played by pubs in combating loneliness and most likely to back government support.
The new data from the UK Spirits Alliance underlines that the public, and pensioners in particular, believe that pubs are more than pints, and the crisis facing our locals is also a crisis for the communities and businesses around them.
The poll reveals that while pubs have been hit hard by tax rises from alcohol duty and other increased costs such as inflation and National Insurance, nearly two-thirds of people (64%) believe pubs play an important role in addressing loneliness and social isolation.
The nationally representative survey of 2,000 adults by Survation for the UK Spirits Alliance (UKSA) found that almost 80 per cent of those over 65+ consider pubs play a part in helping lonely people.
Previous research for the UKSA, which represents 300 British distillers, exposed the scale of the crisis facing pubs. It found that one in four pub landlords and bar owners feared they would close within 12 months. Now, almost 60 percent of the public wants the government to step in and help pubs and their suppliers. the government to step in and help pubs and their suppliers.
Megha Khanna, a spokesperson for the UKSA and landlord of the Gladstone Arms in Borough, South London, said:
“Our pub, like others up and down the country, is an integral part of the local community. It is somewhere for people to come together. If pubs are lost, that sense of community will be lost with them.
“We’re a family-run pub and live music venue in the heart of Borough in South London. Giving back to our community by stocking local businesses is really important to us.
From maintaining a varied drinks offering to fostering a sense of community spirit, it’s time we recognised pubs for more than pints.”
The latest survey comes after a new rise in alcohol duty, with a 3.6 percent increase in duty added to spirits from the 1st of February, which Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in her 2024 budget.
Landlords and the distillers who supply them were already reeling from the 10.1 per cent spirits duty rise imposed by former chancellor Jeremy Hunt in his emergency ‘post Truss’ budget in August 2023.
Spirits account for a third of all alcoholic drinks sold in pubs and bars, and many people opt to drink a gin and tonic, whisky, or cocktail at their local pub rather than a pint of beer.
66% of pub owners state that spirits generate a higher profit margin per serving than beer.
Previous research for the UKSA found that women have been consistently disproportionately impacted by the government’s duty increases, with one in five female consumers picking spirits as their drink of choice, with just 12% opting to drink beer.
Polling from Survation demonstrated that 65% of women are cutting back on the number of times they go out to eat and drink because of affordability.
The survey’s findings echo a wider outcry from communities to support the British pub. For many, the community role pubs play in combatting loneliness, addressing social isolation, and bringing groups together offers a lifeline for both residents of rural communities and city dwellers.