Graeme Bunn - Director

Although the size of the UK pub market is often debated, consensus indicates that the number of pubs in the UK is circa 53,000, with approximately 50% owned by tied lease pub companies. Punch and Enterprise alone hold approximately 30%of the UK pub market, with a combined estate of 15,000 pubs. In comparison, the UK’s largest branded restaurant operator remains McDonalds by some distance, with slightly less than 1,200 venues throughout the country. Whilst these figures provide nothing other than a simplistic snap shot of the market, it does suggest that the number of pubs in the country remains excessive. No-one doubts that the pub is a great British institution, but if we continue to artificially keep pubs open and trading, my concern, and one I know others share, is that the quality of the venue and customer offering in such pubs will decline. The collective appeal of the great British pub, often used as an iconic image, particularly for overseas visitors, will dwindleand only be counter-productive.

The saturation of high street venues in many of our town centres is a useful reminder that oversupply is rarely a catalyst for successful trading. Debate continues in relation to pub closures, a debate which is often confused, with partisan views being given the greatest air time. Rural village pubs, which have an important role for the local community, are often confused with poorly maintained, inner city pubs. Pictures of an idyllic Cotswold pub beneath the headline ‘5 pubs closing a day’ is, in my opinion, at best, misleading.

At Fleurets we sold over 400 properties last year, 42% of which were sold for alternative use. No-one should mourn the loss of these pubs. They did not provide adequate customer appeal and weakened the collective appeal of the Great British pub. Keep such pubs open and trading and all pubs will be tarred with the same brush. All businesses are only as good as their weakest link or member of staff. This is true of the whole of the pub sector. Therefore the number of public houses in the UK will continue to fall and such reduction is long overdue. This will leave more trade for the remaining pubs, resulting in better, more viable operations for the future.