Knock on effects-pubs-takeaways-taxis.

[anywebsite]

I don't think they are much more expensive.

 

I tend to work things out in terms of wage/hour. When I was 16-18 a gallon of fuel was about an hour + a bit wages*, same with cigs. A pint was about just over half hours wage.

 

It's not much different now (20+ years later)

 

*based on approx equivalent to current NMW

 

I was talking about some particular pubs being more expensive than other competing pubs which offer a better service & better beer, right now.

 

Lots of pubs have closed, but do you really miss any of them? They were the badly run pubs. Some pubs are busier than ever.

[geared]

I drink at home because it's warm, comfortable, quick and easy, I can regulate the amount of noise and crap music and sit in front of my massive tv.

 

Thats what's killed the pub industry, people still go out to meet friends and stuff, but it's so easy to stay at home.

[garypeacock]

I drink at home because it's warm, comfortable, quick and easy, I can regulate the amount of noise and crap music and sit in front of my massive tv.

 

Thats what's killed the pub industry, people still go out to meet friends and stuff, but it's so easy to stay at home.

 

I think a lot of you make valid points. The tax take on a pibnt is much the same as it was in 1980, but the price has gone up, mainly through the greed of the pubco's. In Dewsbury the average price of a pint is £2.20, in nearby York its £4.50. That is down to supply and demand and ripping off tourists.

 

Youngsters today have such a large choice of how to spend their time and money and the pub is getting lower on the list of things to do. Succesive governments have also demonised kids and drinking, wich has led to landlords refusing to serve anyone who appears to be under 25.

 

If today's youth do not frequent the local pub then it will eventually close, as the customers die off.

 

If you're interested I've written a book on this very subject, http://www.deathoftheregular.com

[mart]

As of the middle of October, Wetherspoons are under a one year boycott by me and my kin.

 

Why is that Chem?

[Cyclone]

As the price of beer has risen, people have stopped drinking in pubs as much. As a consequence of that, pubs have been closing and it is well documented. Often, after the pub it’s a taxi home (not to mention a takeaway maybe inbetween). Is it fair to say that as a consequence of the so called “duty escalator”, the taxi trade & private hire trades will be effected, and may well be feeling the effects already? Times that loss of income in Sheffield/Rotherham by however many cities there are in the UK and it’s also a big loss of government revenue.

 

Source FT.com“Beer duty rose by 7.2 per cent in the last Budget under the so-called duty escalator – introduced by Labour in 2008 – whereby tax on alcohol rises by a minimum of 2 per cent above inflation each year“.

 

That's the source for saying that duty rose, but what is the source that it resulted in a loss of custom in pubs?

I suspect you've made an error of causality here, ie assumed that the price is what is causing pubs to close.

 

Even if you were correct, the money not spent on takeaways and taxis is probably spent elsewhere, so it's no loss at all to the government.

[Number Six]

I used to drink in 'my local' when I was young (too young to be served legally as it happens) The thing with a local is that it's near your house. I don't think anyone ever got a taxi there or back. There were also no takeaways or chip shops between it and my house (there was the other way to be fair) so I never went there either.

[chem1st]

Why is that Chem?

 

A combination of price rises and dress code policies.

 

I now go elsewhere where it is cheaper (15% less per pint to be precise) and where I can wear what I want.

[S10mainly]

A combination of price rises and dress code policies.

 

I now go elsewhere where it is cheaper (15% less per pint to be precise) and where I can wear what I want.

 

 

Dress code in Wetherspoons? Crikey what do you go out dressed as??

[Bypassblade]

You seem to be basing everything in your post on this first line. I don't think it highlights the actual reason for less [local] pub use. Comparatively speaking it's not much more expensive than it ever has been in the last 20 years to buy a pint in the the pub either. (using wages to compare the prices).

 

Home entertainment; internet/communications; better heating in houses; etc. These all contribute to less pub use.

 

The smoking ban has had a BIG impact on pubs, and beer is extortionate £3.00 for a pint, oh I've had 1% pay rise in 5 years so if I still drank it is more expensive.

 

Its galling as when I 1st started I paid 17p a pint, and got ratted on a fiver and a nice Chinese supper.

 

I know people like to go down town, but in those pubs you're basically "just a face", there's no better feeling than walking into your local and everyone saying ah do Pete or the such.

[chem1st]

Dress code in Wetherspoons? Crikey what do you go out dressed as??

 

I like to wear a hat. I am happy to take my hat off in people's homes, but not in a pub.