Pubs continue to suffer as drinkers stay at home

Last week, while delivering his company's full year results​, Fuller, Smith & Turner’s chairman Michael Turner said that the Government’s alcohol-duty escalator was 'counterproductive' and was damaging the on-trade.

He said the 2 per cent plus inflation rise in alcohol duty, intented to keep alcohol's real price in line with wages, but which now takes no account of the fact real wages are falling, meant many consumers were shunning their local pubs in favour of drinking supermarket-bought alcohol at home.

Neil Williams of the British Beer & Pub Association said pubs were being squeezed from all directions and renewed calls for the Government to review alcohol duty.

He said: "There's no doubt about [consumers drinking-out less], but we've also had a massive tax rise in duty that is playing its part. Pubs are mostly small, family-run businesses that can't absorb these tax increases and are feeling the effect of it and cuts in consumer spending."

Drinking at home​

Today, Majestic Wine chief executive Steve Lewis told the BBC that his company was benefiting from consumers opting to buy wine to drink at home rather than going out because they were being squeezed financially. Sales across the wine retailer's 165 stores were up 5 per cent while fine wine sales grew 24 per cent.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that growth in higher-priced wine was "part of the trend to eating and drinking at home", and that consumers didn't want to pay a mark-up for drinking wine in restaurants and pubs.