The number of pubs that have been forced to call last orders for the final time increased at an alarming rate during the first quarter of the year, new research has revealed.
During the first three months of 2024, around 80 pubs a month closed down, according to research by the commercial real estate intelligence firm Altus Group.
This represents a 56% increase on the first quarter of 2023, which saw 51 pubs a month shut their doors for good.
Around 470 pubs in total closed their doors during the 2023/24 financial year with Wales and the North West seeing the most numbers of pubs ‘vanishing’ at 73 and 72 respectively.
The overall number of pubs in England and Wales, including those vacant and being offered to let, fell to 39,162 at the end of the first quarter of 2024.
The UK’s largest pub groups and breweries have written an open letter to the leaders of the three main political parties demanding a cut in beer duty and business rates reform.
