Can you afford to go to the pub? - Thousands are predicted to close as the cost of living crisis bites - video Dailymotion

We have sent camera teams out, across the country, for your views on the  the great British tradition of going to the pub.

Transcript

00:00 I'd say definitely I've noticed a lot of pubs and whatnot have been shutting. I think

00:06 I work in hospitality as well and I think stuff is just extortionate, even going out

00:11 for drinks and stuff, it's just so dear, even for a pint and stuff.

00:15 Again it's down to the price. Me and my daughter, we're not great drinkers and that, but we

00:20 do like to go out for a pub meal and we go to one of the well-known high street chains

00:25 on regular occasions. About two years ago, they'd all be packed because they offer good

00:30 deals, they offer a good drink, they offer nice meals at good prices, but now of course

00:34 they've had to put their prices up to cope with the rise in electricity and the bills

00:39 and people are tightening their belts. So the people who are in attendance, it really

00:43 has diminished.

00:45 I have noticed that a lot of places are closing down. I don't know the reason for it, but

00:51 I think it may be with the economics, just the country's in a recession and I think that's

00:58 the reason for the hospitality. Folk can't afford it anymore.

01:02 Because my pub was just there and now it's shut. So I like to go to Witherspoon's and

01:11 they're all shut around here.

01:13 Actually surprisingly I've cut down the last few months, but I used to be very regular.

01:17 I don't know, I think the pubs that thrive are kind of open for families and things and

01:25 I think these days you've got to do the non-alcoholic options as well and good food. So I think

01:32 that's the way to go.

01:33 A lot of it's due to essentially money in two ways. So it's either that people don't

01:40 have the money to spend because living is just too expensive.

01:43 That's a possible increment, isn't it?

01:45 Yeah, we just don't have that anymore.

01:47 Families, family work, you know, like it used to be. More family gardens for children to

01:57 go in, especially in the summer.

01:58 I worry more for, I'm from quite a small town in the north, I worry more for where there

02:05 aren't that many pubs and people don't have the same amount of disposable income. I think

02:10 people in London are pretty lucky comparatively. So yeah, I'm more worried about the future

02:14 of pubs there because then, you know, it's just stripping the communities back to the

02:19 bare bones.

02:20 If I was to have a drink or whatsoever, I'd happily do that in a studio or behind closed

02:24 doors. But then I also understand that, I don't know, people just find it much more

02:29 relaxing to have a drink at home in this day and age.

02:31 I don't think I've seen pubs closing down. But I think in regards to not being very lively,

02:38 I don't think pubs are very lively anyway unless there's an occasion or a game on or,

02:43 I don't know, the lights, something like that.

02:45 But if you look at shows from the 90s and all that, you'll see when people go into pubs,

02:52 it's always the same sort of scene of a few regular plentors or whatever, but it's scattered

02:58 around the pub and there's nothing specific. It's never very popular.