Plummeting beer sales on-premise raise big concerns
Horrendous sales figures over August and September saw on-trade liquor volumes nosedive by 7% posing further long term doubts over the ability of hundreds of UK pubs to survive.
Beer sales alone over the two months witnessed a huge 10% drop as the two months failed to compensate for the disastrous summer.
Grim predictions are that as many as 2,000 pubs could close their doors over the next two years or so if volumes continue to freefall.
Some in the trade have predicted as many as 2,000 pub closers over the next two years or so if these volume declines continue.
The decline has been blamed on a convergence of factors, including a worsening economy, poor summer weather, smoking bans, rising energy prices and a rapidly cooling housing market.
Hardly a single on-trade drinks category remained unscathed over August and September and even cider is now showing a marked slow down from its previous heady performances of a year ago.