More than 400 pubs closed in 2024 – as number of UK boozers reaches all-time low
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MORE than 400 pubs called last orders this year as the total number of boozers reached an all-time low. Some 412 in England and Wales — around 34 a month — shut and were demolished or converted into homes, offices and nurseries. That was a rise of 6.7 per cent compared to the previous year and the sharpest fall in numbers since 2021, when 444 pubs closed their doors.
![[The total number of pubs in the UK has reached an all-time low]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/group-happy-friends-drinking-toasting-960242713.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
A total of 2,074 pubs have gone in the past five years, analysis by the commercial real estate experts Altus Group found. The overall number of boozers in England and Wales, including those vacant and offered to let, fell to a low of 38,989 according to Valuation Office Agency statistics.
![[London has suffered the most closures]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/close-mid-adult-man-drinking-960613389.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Three years ago the hospitality sector was hit by Covid lockdowns and soaring energy prices. This year rising costs and cautious spending has also hit the sector. The British Beer and Pub Association reckons pubs face an additional £71million bill from April when employer National Insurance Contributions rise to 15 per cent.
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And Altus calculates the reduction in the level of business rates discount from 75 to 40 per cent will cost £215million. Alex Probyn, of Altus, said: “Many publicans I speak to are extremely worried this could be their last Christmas given the combination of hiking the amount employers will have to pay in National Insurance, increases to the minimum wage and the business rates discount being slashed.
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