Pubs, and the demise of.

Sitting on the top deck of the 161 yesterday, it was depressing seeing closed pub after closed pub on the lower road. Million Hare, Thames Barrier Tavern, White Horse, Horse & Groom, Anti Gallican all closed up

i_b_b_o_r_g said:

MrLargo said:

holyjo said:

MrLargo said:

Valiantphil said:

If I guess that the pint was a fiver and the bottle £2, then the soda water was over £2 for a half.

Bottled beers cost roughly the same as draft. So £4, £4 and £1 would be my guess.

Normal pub prices, which the landlord has to charge in order to make a profit (and a living). But it is far, far too expensive, if you compare it to what you pay in other countries, and if you compare it to the amount of beer you could buy for £9 in the supermarket. Blame high taxes on booze and freeholders charging pubs prohibitively high rents.

I'm pretty sure that drinking in the UK certainly outside of London is cheaper than comparable countries around the world. I paid £30 for 2 pints of Stella in Shang Hai albeit in a smart hotel but even in city bars beer was about £8 a pint.

Is Shanghai comparable to any UK city outside of London? I'd say Newcastle/Leeds/Sheffield/wherever have a has a lot more in common with, for example, Hamburg, Porto, Valencia, Lille, Gdansk, Rotterdam or Naples than they do with Shanghai (which is the commercial and financial centre of the most populous country in the world. And I'm pretty sure a beer in a local bar in any of those cities would be cheaper or at least as cheap as UK cities outside of London.

Think the Scandinavian countries are the only ones in Europe with higher alcohol prices than us.

Don't they ha e funny off licence type shops, run by the government?

Paid 9.50 for 500ml in hotel bar in Saariselka just before Christmas. 8.50 in the ‘Irish’ bar there. Don’t get many alcoholics there.

Hastingsaddick said:

SoundAsa£ said:

Hastingsaddick said:

Stevelamb said:

Lord Northbrook Burnt Ash Road Lee.
Pint of soda water and wedge of lime ..............free. Pint of Cider £5.30.

Liked the old Northbrook (lived very close by), havn't been in there since it became the Lord Northbrook.

You liked the old Northbrook!!!!!
It was an utter shit hole......you haven’t been in the new one so how can you compare it, why haven’t you been in there as it’s very very popular?
The new one is far far better and has done very well giving the local community somewhere to enjoy and they do a good trade, whereas the old Northbrook was a disgusting empty depressing tip.
Yes it’s a bit pricey but hey, so are most pubs in London nowadays.
Give it a try......foods pretty good too.

Didn't compare them, agree the old one was a 'tad' tatty, but it was handy and to be honest there wasn't much else in Lee or at least the part we lived in....haven't been back since we moved out of the area in 2010, don't really have any reason to go there nowdays but if I do I'll pop in to the Lord Northbrook.

Ah right mate....that explains it.
Take my word for it, it’s worth a visit if you’re ever in that neck of the woods.....you won’t believe it’s the same place you once knew.

SoundAsa£ said:

Hastingsaddick said:

SoundAsa£ said:

Hastingsaddick said:

Stevelamb said:

Lord Northbrook Burnt Ash Road Lee.
Pint of soda water and wedge of lime ..............free. Pint of Cider £5.30.

Liked the old Northbrook (lived very close by), havn't been in there since it became the Lord Northbrook.

You liked the old Northbrook!!!!!
It was an utter shit hole......you haven’t been in the new one so how can you compare it, why haven’t you been in there as it’s very very popular?
The new one is far far better and has done very well giving the local community somewhere to enjoy and they do a good trade, whereas the old Northbrook was a disgusting empty depressing tip.
Yes it’s a bit pricey but hey, so are most pubs in London nowadays.
Give it a try......foods pretty good too.

Didn't compare them, agree the old one was a 'tad' tatty, but it was handy and to be honest there wasn't much else in Lee or at least the part we lived in....haven't been back since we moved out of the area in 2010, don't really have any reason to go there nowdays but if I do I'll pop in to the Lord Northbrook.

Ah right mate....that explains it.
Take my word for it, it’s worth a visit if you’re ever in that neck of the woods.....you won’t believe it’s the same place you once knew.

About two years ago the Lord Northbrook pub was taken over by Fullers. Prices went through the roof and staff left.
Two years ago it was a really really good pub but now it is a Fullers house and staff turnover seems high as well as prices and footfall has gone down with me included.

cafcdave123 said:

i_b_b_o_r_g said:

My Mrs and I have decided it's time we return to UK and guess what, we're look at buying a pub.

lord Kitchener in welling has shut down.

do you know if it's gone for good, or having a spruce up?, live about 10 mins walk from it and whilst I wasn't a 'frequent' user, I did used to pop in now and again + was always handy for a cheap sunday carvary with the family. Be a shame if it was gone permanently as always seemed pretty busy whenever I used it.

like a pub every business has staff to pay etc, the mark up on alcohol is small, unfortunately chains like wetherspoons seem to make everyone think that there prices should be the norm

DaveMehmet said:

1905 said:

cafcdave123 said:

Elthamaddick said:

cafcdave123 said:

i_b_b_o_r_g said:

My Mrs and I have decided it's time we return to UK and guess what, we're look at buying a pub.

lord Kitchener in welling has shut down.

do you know if it's gone for good, or having a spruce up?, live about 10 mins walk from it and whilst I wasn't a 'frequent' user, I did used to pop in now and again + was always handy for a cheap sunday carvary with the family. Be a shame if it was gone permanently as always seemed pretty busy whenever I used it.

its not shut for a refurbishment, as it stands its closed down.

unless they've sold the sight to developers id imagine the lease is available.

The word is, that it will be a Tesco local with flats above.

Apart from pub prices going up year on year, I have also found that the old fashioned welcoming landlord (and staff), is becoming a thing of the past. Visited a couple of pubs recently where I have felt more of an inconvenience.......

Hate to tell you this mate but we've all been thinking the same thing for years.

I knew you would respond!!

1905 said:

cafcdave123 said:

Elthamaddick said:

cafcdave123 said:

i_b_b_o_r_g said:

My Mrs and I have decided it's time we return to UK and guess what, we're look at buying a pub.

lord Kitchener in welling has shut down.

do you know if it's gone for good, or having a spruce up?, live about 10 mins walk from it and whilst I wasn't a 'frequent' user, I did used to pop in now and again + was always handy for a cheap sunday carvary with the family. Be a shame if it was gone permanently as always seemed pretty busy whenever I used it.

its not shut for a refurbishment, as it stands its closed down.

unless they've sold the sight to developers id imagine the lease is available.

The word is, that it will be a Tesco local with flats above.

Apart from pub prices going up year on year, I have also found that the old fashioned welcoming landlord (and staff), is becoming a thing of the past. Visited a couple of pubs recently where I have felt more of an inconvenience.......

there's already a Tesco local about 250 yards away in what was the Duke of Edinburgh

hope someone takes it on and tries to make a go of it (as a pub)

i_b_b_o_r_g said:

Redskin said:

palarsehater said:

like a pub every business has staff to pay etc, the mark up on alcohol is small, unfortunately chains like wetherspoons seem to make everyone think that there prices should be the norm

Their prices should be the norm; the poor man's 'treats', beer; a fag; football are now beyond his pocket.
Countries like France and Spain regard these things - along with a decent meal - as a right, not a privilege.

Yeah, I do agree with that, but France is now 5-6 Euros for 50cl / pint

Blimey, but I can't imagine they're charging £8 for a large glass of plonk.

MuttleyCAFC said:

It isn't just that a pint is expensive, it is the price you can get it for from the Supermarket.

Riviera said:

The round would have cost about £12 in central London. Buy your drinks cheaper in a supermarket of course but there’s nowhere to sit and the atmosphere is crap.

Redskin said:

palarsehater said:

like a pub every business has staff to pay etc, the mark up on alcohol is small, unfortunately chains like wetherspoons seem to make everyone think that there prices should be the norm

Their prices should be the norm; the poor man's 'treats', beer; a fag; football are now beyond his pocket.
Countries like France and Spain regard these things - along with a decent meal - as a right, not a privilege.

wetherspoons make there money by buying up beer with v little shelf life left and threw the vast amount of pubs can network it out.

if an independant pub had 3 lagers/beers on tap it is labelled a shit tip with no choice.

if they have 10+ taps and cost a little more - then its a rip off.

pubs have overheads like everyone else, the volunteer in bexleyheath the owner wanted to get peroni in on draft and worked out he could only make 97p a pint.

.

palarsehater said:

Redskin said:

palarsehater said:

like a pub every business has staff to pay etc, the mark up on alcohol is small, unfortunately chains like wetherspoons seem to make everyone think that there prices should be the norm

Their prices should be the norm; the poor man's 'treats', beer; a fag; football are now beyond his pocket.
Countries like France and Spain regard these things - along with a decent meal - as a right, not a privilege.

wetherspoons make there money by buying up beer with v little shelf life left and threw the vast amount of pubs can network it out.

Worked for 'spoons for 5 years when I was younger. This myth about buying beer with a short shelf life is absolute nonsense and always has been. They are able to sell more cheaply than their competitors for the same reason that's Sainsburys and Tesco can sell more cheaply than the local off licence - you buy more, you pay less.

In the early 2000s, when I worked there, Guinness tried to increase the price that Wetherspoons were paying - 'spoons said "no" and started stocking Murphys instead. A few months later, Guinness came back and agreed to stick with the old price if they started stocking it again. Nothing to do with use by dates.

Their Irish pubs currently serve Beamish because they're in dispute with Diageo (Guinness) and Murphys. Again, that's over price, it's not because only Beamish has got loads of nearly out of date stout knocking around.

Not a massive fan of Wetherspoons, but used to get the right hump with ill-informed locals telling me why our beer was so cheap when I was working behind the bar.

Reading this I was inspired to do some price comparison with one of my local bars. All prices converted to £ per imperial pint

Narragansett (cheap lager) - £3.78
Founders Solid Gold (lager) - £6.61
Fiddlehead IPA (decent) - £10.07
Almanac Supernova Sour - £15.11

And this isn’t an expensive bar. It about average for craft beer.