Another bubble pops- rise in UK breweries going bust

[Trampa501]

Rise in UK breweries going bust amid thirst for cheaper craft beers | Food & drink industry | The Guardian

Quote

Rise in UK breweries going bust amid thirst for cheaper craft beers
45 breweries, mostly smaller makers, enter insolvency in last 12 months, up from 15 the previous year

Jess Clark
Mon 5 Jun 2023 00.01 BST
The number of UK breweries going out of business has tripled in the past year, with smaller craft beer manufacturers most at risk as consumers opt for cheaper options during the cost of living crisis, according to research.

In total, 45 breweries entered insolvency in the 12 months ending 31 March, compared with 15 in the previous year, according to the most recent official Insolvency Service statistics analysed by Mazars, an audit, tax and advisory firm.

 

[Up the spout]

Not the breweries... nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!! 🍺

[24gray24]

Margins were so thin it was always a labour of love anyway, and now input prices have skyrocketed, many might well throw in the towel. 

Bad back, innit. 

[Innkeeper]

Massively over saturated sector with little or no originality from a lot of participants who churn out the same over hopped brews while trying to persuade the punter that they are some thing special.

My local one produces about 15 different beers - it’s easy to taste them all as you can buy tasting ‘platters’.  Last time I went, twelve of them were just variations of grapefruit flavour - tasted basically the same beer to me.  Oh yes, one was a guava beer 🙄

Edited June 5, 2023 by Innkeeper

[PeanutButter]

Vape shops next please. 

And bubble tea. 

[captainb]

6 minutes ago, PeanutButter said:

Vape shops next please. 

And bubble tea. 

Arnt vape shops in the same category as American candy stores?

[Frankie Teardrop]

Vape shops, candy stores, turkish barbers.

All have high margins and punters pay in cash.
Coincidentally thats what you need to launder money from illicit activities.

I expect those type of establishments along with charity shops will actually increase in a recession...

 

[Orb]

I wonder how those adult stores up and down the A1 survive. Surely nobody stops by for a magazine and a dildo anymore, and if they do, surely not in high enough numbers to operate a profitable business. 

[24gray24]

28 minutes ago, Frankie Teardrop said:

Vape shops, candy stores, turkish barbers.

All have high margins and punters pay in cash.
Coincidentally thats what you need to launder money from illicit activities.

I expect those type of establishments along with charity shops will actually increase in a recession...

 

Tax evasion is money laundering too. 

So any business that takes cash and doesn't declare every penny, is money laundering too. 

That's why there's a big effort to get rid of cash. 

[henry the king]

1 hour ago, Up the spout said:

Not the breweries... nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!! 🍺

Quick, get some covid loans ready. Nothing bad can be allowed to happen to anyone ever. The only solution is the government put another £2bn on the credit card to bail them out

[Tw@t Badger]

49 minutes ago, Orb said:

I wonder how those adult stores up and down the A1 survive. Surely nobody stops by for a magazine and a dildo anymore, and if they do, surely not in high enough numbers to operate a profitable business. 

Where abouts? Just asking for a friend......

[Armus]

I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.

[The Angry Capitalist]

Restaurants probably next.

[steve99]

2 hours ago, PeanutButter said:

Vape shops next please. 

And bubble tea. 

Both of which can operate from pop up shops on temporary short term lets. 

[steve99]

Gave up on pubs when they hit £4 a pint. Now more like £6 so not a chance. Same with restaurants.  No amount of rationalisation re  pricing will change the fact that real people cant afford them anymore. In the UK it seems that everyone is ok with constantly ringfencing more and more people out of normal social activity so long as someone somewhere is making a killing.  I was recently in Japan and with friends there we ate out every day, cost for a full sized meal  £4 each without booze but then again booze is not necessarily connected with eating out in Japan.  (of course as a tourist in Tokyo  you could pay 20x that amount) And Japan of course is no 3rd world country.   An annual parking ticket at our local lake, owned by Anglian water just went up from £50pa to £70pa and so on, they all want a double profit/bonus this year so as far as I am concerned they can all fk off. 

[nightowl]

2 hours ago, Innkeeper said:

it’s easy to taste them all as you can buy tasting ‘platters’.  Last time I went, twelve of them were just variations of grapefruit flavour - tasted basically the same beer to me.  Oh yes, one was a guava beer 🙄

I find that in my local when they have specials from the local brewery which change every month or two.   

As far as my taste buds are concerned they could have the same keg in the cellar, but a new amusing but different cartoon logo on the pump to tempt me! 

[Trampa501]

I've noticed some smaller type drinking holes open up in smaller places outside London (possibly where lower rents meet more relaxed licensing authorities). They sell wines and craft beers in the main. No idea if they are viable in the long term, but I suppose they offer a friendly place to have a chat with the owner whilst sampling the product. A bit like pubs used to be, before they became restaurants.

[nightowl]

5 minutes ago, Trampa501 said:

I've noticed some smaller type drinking holes open up in smaller places outside London (possibly where lower rents meet more relaxed licensing authorities). They sell wines and craft beers in the main. No idea if they are viable in the long term, but I suppose they offer a friendly place to have a chat with the owner whilst sampling the product. A bit like pubs used to be, before they became restaurants.

I have seen such a place open near me in the ground floor of a block of new build flats. I guess they hope the owners -sorry tenants - upstairs will be their regulars. Except few flats have sold yet a birdie told me.

[fellow]

2 hours ago, steve99 said:

Gave up on pubs when they hit £4 a pint. Now more like £6 so not a chance. Same with restaurants.  No amount of rationalisation re  pricing will change the fact that real people cant afford them anymore. In the UK it seems that everyone is ok with constantly ringfencing more and more people out of normal social activity so long as someone somewhere is making a killing.  I was recently in Japan and with friends there we ate out every day, cost for a full sized meal  £4 each without booze but then again booze is not necessarily connected with eating out in Japan.  (of course as a tourist in Tokyo  you could pay 20x that amount) And Japan of course is no 3rd world country.   An annual parking ticket at our local lake, owned by Anglian water just went up from £50pa to £70pa and so on, they all want a double profit/bonus this year so as far as I am concerned they can all fk off. 

+1

I now find ot pretty much impossible to have a good time in a pub as the feeling of being ripped off far outweighs any enjoyment. I now (begrudgingly) only go out on special occasions and drink as slowly as possible.

I used to nominate myself as the driver to save a bit of cash but now the soft drinks cost a fortune as well 

What p*sses me off the most is you don't know how much the drinks are until after you have ordered them. I think all pubs should be forced to display their prices on the door.

I've also noticed increasing numbers of pubs are refusing to take cash and I think this is a deliberate tactic to stop you noticing how much you have spent and sticking to a budget.

Edited June 5, 2023 by fellow

[reddog]

I used to drink bitter about 25 years ago when it wasn't really fashionable, I guess I am a bit of a reverse snob because I can't stand all the "craft" stuff.

 

Some of the prices are shocking (like £10-15 a can in extreme cases).

 

A pub I occasionally go to has gone over to Beavertown Neck Oil etc.  Last time I was in there the only thing I wanted to drink was Guinness and that was north of £6, not London - the Midlands!!

Edited June 5, 2023 by reddog

[Odysseus]

All the pubs near me have priced out all the locals and turned themselves into “destination pubs” where they serve £18 burgers with the 6 chips served in a mini copper pot. No thanks.

[PeanutButter]

3 hours ago, steve99 said:

Gave up on pubs when they hit £4 a pint. Now more like £6 so not a chance. Same with restaurants.  No amount of rationalisation re  pricing will change the fact that real people cant afford them anymore. In the UK it seems that everyone is ok with constantly ringfencing more and more people out of normal social activity so long as someone somewhere is making a killing.  I was recently in Japan and with friends there we ate out every day, cost for a full sized meal  £4 each without booze but then again booze is not necessarily connected with eating out in Japan.  (of course as a tourist in Tokyo  you could pay 20x that amount) And Japan of course is no 3rd world country.   An annual parking ticket at our local lake, owned by Anglian water just went up from £50pa to £70pa and so on, they all want a double profit/bonus this year so as far as I am concerned they can all fk off. 

Yes, once you reach Japan it’s possible to travel remarkably cheaply compared to here. Easy to find cheap hotels, cheap food, low cost attractions. Apparently their business rates are low, as are rents. The environment is conducive to competition, with high density populations providing huge footfall.

The flights are crazy prices now though. 

 

Edited June 5, 2023 by PeanutButter

[Armus]

@fellow - going cashless let’s me know exactly how much I’ve spent, I can see it more easily in my banking app.

@reddog I’ve drank a lot of craft but the quality is extremely variable. If I’m “out out” standard lager or spirits do the job. Beavertown is Heineken now, similarly Camden are InBev (Budweiser, etc.).

[MancTom]

4 hours ago, nightowl said:

I find that in my local when they have specials from the local brewery which change every month or two.   

As far as my taste buds are concerned they could have the same keg in the cellar, but a new amusing but different cartoon logo on the pump to tempt me! 

A brewer once told me about he laughed about camera nerds argueing over two beers from his brewery. He said what they didn’t know was that it was the same beer rebranded as a special.

[Smith]

It's true that pubs have become too expensive, but it's not the publicans ripping you off. It's almost impossible to make money running a pub.