The pubs pouring on to the market (From This Is Lancashire)

The pubs pouring on to the market

11:00am Sunday 22nd October 2006

• Print
• Email
• Share

PUBS, we love them. . . well most of us do at any rate.

Many of us have a favourite, a local perhaps, where we are greeted by name and the licensee knows our tipple.

But given the number of pubs changing hands, or even calling last orders permanently, that familiar friendly licensee could soon become a thing of the past.

Take a look around Bolton, and it is hard not to miss the For Sale or To Let signs that have sprung up in some unexpected places.

What is happening to the Great British Pub or - should I say - the Great Bolton Pub?

The "local boozer" is one of the stalwarts of our social life - known the world over for its warm welcome and equally warm beer.

It's as typically British as a Devon cream tea and village cricket on a balmy summer's day.

At the moment there are between 15 and 20 pubs up for sale or to let in and around Bolton.

Some well known names are up for grabs near to the centre of town.

The Howcroft in Pool Street, an old-fashioned local pub with cask conditioned beers, is one of them.

It has a devoted following, an immaculate bowling green and a nationally rated beer festival.

The Hen and Chickens in Deansgate, another pub with real ales and pub grub, is on the market along with The Albion in Moor Lane. Potential buyers might also look at The Dog and Partridge, in Manor Street, which serves cask ales while attracting a younger crowd.

There are others, such as The Railway at Bromley Cross, The Royal Oak at Bradshaw and The Howfener at Westhoughton, that are on the market.

In Horwich, The Pheasant Plucker's lease has just been sold and the pub is set to revert to its former name - The Saddle.

Understandably, most licensees are reluctant to go into detail about the reasons why they want to leave the trade.

It is widely believed that cheap supermarket alcohol prices have prompted more people to drink at home which in turn depresses the already declining pub business. The looming threat of a complete no smoking ban next year also worries many.

One licensee of a well respected traditional pub on sale said: "Supermarkets are now selling booze cheaper than I can buy it at the wholesalers. Lager, alcopops and wines are all cheaper in the supermarkets than they are in pubs."

"Smoking goes hand in hand with drinking and I think many customers will just stay at home drinking and smoking and not bother coming to the pub at all."

Clive Nightingale, licensee at the Howcroft, said: "I have a wife and two young kids and I want to see more of them. I also want to concentrate on freehold pubs which I think are the future."

One industry expert said that the number of pubs up for sale was slightly higher than usual for a town the size of Bolton. He estimated there were up to 300 pubs in the wider Bolton area.

In the past, individual licensees were reluctant to put up For Sale boards, in case it had a negative impact on the business they were trying to sell.

But the major pub companies, which lease pubs to licensees, often take a corporate decision to do so.

Other reasons for pubs being sold, or even closed, are population changes. Pubs in areas with large Muslim populations often close because of lack of business, or are changed for other uses.

But, despite the problems, there seems to be no shortage of people wanting to enter the licensed trade.

Fleurets in Manchester is the largest firm of chartered surveyors to specialise in licensed and leisure property.

Tim Martin, sales associate, said: "It's fair to say that the industry is in something of a changing time. Last year we saw the introduction of a new Licensing Act, which meant that some pubs were granted permission to open longer - although not all for 24 hours.

"There are of course those who will look at the smoking ban as having potential for disrupting trade, but we've come to learn that the trade is nothing if not resilient. This was proven when the drink-driving law was introduced in the UK.

"At the time some predicted the end of country pubs. In fact, what we actually saw was the birth of the fantastic food-led pubs that we still enjoy today."

No plans to sell, but industry must face a changing world

LANDLORDS may be selling up and moving on for many and varied reasons in these changing times, according to one pub landlord.

John Jewitt, who runs the successful Old Man and Scythe real ale pub in Bradshawgate, which is not up for sale, said there were a number of factors in the increase in number of pubs up for sale.

He said: "There are more pubs for sale now since the pub companies took over pubs from the big brewers, and turned them into leasehold pubs.

"Once, leaseholders could build the business up and then sell it on and have enough to buy a small house, but not any more.

"That's why some licensees are getting out because they haven't made the money they thought they would.

"Other licensees, who haven't got the outside space for smokers, are worried about the imminent no smoking ban. Another reason is that society is changing.

"More people have their own homes with large mortgages and are planning events like barbecues at home which they couldn't do before.

"Some people also think there might be a recession coming and they are being careful with their money. We are successful here partly because of the age of the pub.

"It's different than other pubs in Bolton and we attract people because we have live music at weekends which we've been doing for seven years now."

• Print
• Email
• Share