Tom Davies, chief executive of Oxfordshire-based Brakspear pub company, has said it’s “inevitable” that more pubs will close as Britain is “over-pubbed”.
He told the Henley Standard that pubs “just can’t survive” if they’re only used by “the odd customer to pop in for a Sunday lunch”.
Davies said: “I firmly believe that as a nation we are over-pubbed because the way people use them has changed. There are places that used to get by on a core of drinkers and customers that are simply not viable as business sites any more.
“Village pubs used to have a tight community of locals but instead the homes around them are full of commuters or are second homes. Suddenly that trade is gone.
“It’s massively important to the UK that we keep our pubs. Brakspear is out-performing the market when it comes to closures but times are still hard and pubs need support.”
Davies, who oversees an estate of 145 tenanted pubs, said Brakspear does its “very best” to ensure rents aren’t increased unnecessarily.
“That is one way that we support our tenants but not all of them can maintain some sites. We take prospective landlords through a rigorous process of assessment so that they will know the pitfalls of what they are getting themselves into.”
He also hit out at the “immoral” action of supermarkets that sell alcohol at a loss leader and making life tougher for pubs.
