Much as I agree with Shambles about the Licensing act and its impact....and the PRS/PPL cost increase.......the Sam Smiths situation also shows up the balatant profiteering that still exists in the licened trade......particularly by some of the big brewers and the Pub Co`s. If Sams can brew and sell a pint of decent cask bitter for under £1.30, and still make a good profit........then where does the other 70-90p go that you pay to have the equivalent in most other high street pubs?
Yes....some will go to pay for the "Sky Sport" and other add ons which Sam Smiths pubs choose to do without, but having had some experience with the licenced trade I know the outrageous rents that many landlords are expected to pay over to many of the Pub Co` chains, just to be able to keep trading each month....and then having to pay a third more than the open market price to buy beer from a tied contract with one of the big brewerys. It is no wonder that pubs change hands faster than ever before and that pub closures are a regular occurance. Someone is being very short sighted and it is not just the government ....though they have created the current situation in both the Licence fiasco and in the way they split up the tied houses a few years ago. The Pub Co`s are now property companies and only interested in short term returns......how much can they squeeze out of the current Lease holder in their pubs before they give up and the next one(mug?)comes along.
All this is combining to kill the traditional British pub......a unique institution and part of the fabric of local comunities. Soon all that there will be left are housing estates and supermarkets.....the driving out of live music in pubs is yet another symptom of the death throws of the British Pub....RIP. By the way....we will have to have the wake in someones front room cos the local is shut......could someone bring a few cans from ASDA on the way?