Special investigation by Nick Griffiths and Chris Story

Last updated 13:43, Monday, 12 May 2008

At least 80 pubs are on the market in Cumbria in a huge £20million sell-off.

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Harraby Inn, Carlisle

Dozens are up for lease or sale as experts and landlords warn rising overheads, the smoking ban, the cost of living and the price of a pint are driving both drinkers and bar bosses away.

Leases – ranging from deals costing hundreds of thousands of pounds to as low as only £1 – are up for grabs at places including Carlisle, Brampton, Penrith and Whitehaven.

A News & Star investigation found 81 pubs advertised on one property website alone, with the total price of leases and properties reaching more than £19.1 million.

In Carlisle, at least 12 bars display “For Lease” signs outside the premises.

The stark reality at many local pubs was spelled out by one landlord who is poised to quit a picturesque village bar after only four months in charge.

Tony Reynolds, who took over at The Wheatsheaf Inn at Wetheral after it previously closed for a number of months, said: “We just can’t make it pay.

“It is a good drinking bar but we can’t really survive on the drink alone. It is the overheads. The price of a barrel and then there’s your electricity and gas.

“It is dying. We’re just not going to bother anymore.”

Villagers in Wetheral complained when The Wheatsheaf shut suddenly last September.

Mr Reynolds, who runs the pub with his wife, Jeanette, worked to rebuild trade since taking over earlier this year.

But they are now calling time on their spell at The Wheatsheaf and are leaving at the end of the month.

He said he found trade quiet compared to his previous experience running a pub a couple of years ago and claimed custom was now all built around food.

“We’ve found it is very quiet now,” he added. “It is very difficult to answer why people don’t come out.

“Sometimes we are busy and other times there is just nobody here.

“I don’t know why the young ones don’t come out anymore. I don’t know whether they can’t afford it or they get their drink elsewhere.

“It is like banging your head against a brick wall.”

Pub and property experts name the rent charged by the large companies who now own many pubs – as opposed to the old system of being linked to a brewery – as being a key factor in the number now on the market.

Trade publication The Publican says these companies, known as pubcos, own 24,000 British pubs – about 37 per cent of the national market.

The landlords in their bars have no choice but to buy their beer from the pubco even though they can buy the same drink cheaper elsewhere.

Carlisle-based estate agent John Taylor said the rate of decline in the pub industry had accelerated in the past five years.

More buildings were now becoming available for sale or to lease and there were always a high number of businesses on the market.

Mr Taylor said he believed social and financial changes had contributed to the downfall of many pubs.

“Although breweries used to be criticised for being rather aggressive, at the end of the day selling drink was what it was all about,” he said. “What we have now are primarily property companies.

“They are mainly interested in rent from property. Some property companies charge rent that tenants cannot pay.

“There have been social changes as well. In the 50s, 60s and 70s, people went down to the pub and treated it almost like a community centre – even in the towns.

“At the pubs in Denton Holme people knew their neighbours and knew what was going on.

“People do not go out like that any more. It is expensive.”

Mr Taylor believes the changing face of the pub industry has been evident in Carlisle.

“Of most of the suburban pubs that were originally state management, quite a number of them have now either closed and have changed use, or have closed and are looking for tenants,” he added.

“Any of the city pubs that are not on the ‘circuit’, even if they are just off the circuit, seem to be struggling as well.

“An example would be The White House on Warwick Road.

“If you look across north Cumbria, the number of country inns has probably halved in the last 20 years.”

Mr Taylor said he believed increased awareness about the dangers of drink-driving, the cost of going out and the smoking ban had also been factors in the decline.

Peter Hayward, of Hayward Tod estate agents, said he believed many large pub companies were now run along the lines of property firms.

He said there had been a significant increase in the number of pubs for sale and lease in the past few years.

“The difficulty is that people take on the tenancy on what appears to be an attractive level of rent and try to build up the business,” he added.

“As soon as they start showing signs of success, the brewery whip the rent up to the point where they take the profit out of the job and the people go.

“This repeats itself over and over again.”

Philip Tuer, pub liaison officer for the Solway branch of Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), said: “The biggest problem we’ve come across is the rents being charged.

“Pubs in Carlisle have to pay over £1,000 a week in rent before they even open the door.

“The smoking ban is now also starting to bite big style.

“When it first came in, some pubs, especially those that do food, did very well, people started going in who didn’t go to pubs before.

“But a lot of the regular smokers have gone through the spell of standing outside and they are now definitely drifting away. The other part is the increase in prices. The price of beer has gone through the roof.

“The government goes on about binge drinking so they put the price of beer up. But the people binge drinking are the younger age group.

“They are going to supermarkets and buying cheap booze and having several drinks before going out to somewhere that serves special offers.

“The bread and butter business of a pub is its straightforward beer. But the average price of a pint in the Carlisle area is £2.50.

“If two of you go out it is a fiver for two drinks for every round. You could have four drinks and not get change out of £20.

“When the cost of living goes up something’s got to give and it is often the social life that gives.”

He added a cultural change had also played its part.

“You can’t drink during the working day now. Once upon a time people would go for a drink at lunchtime,” he said.

“You can go into a supermarket and get a bottle of wine for £2.99. That would cost a lot more in a bar so people think why go to the pub?”

Pub chains say they give as much support to landlords as possible.

A spokeswoman for Punch Taverns, which owns a string of bars across Cumbria, said: “It is not in our interest to see pubs closed.

“Our main priority is always to get them up and trading as soon as possible.”

She stressed that rents were carefully calculated with tenants made aware of their exact detail before signing any agreements.

“It is a transparent process,” the spokeswoman said. “We work closely with our licensees through our rent review process.”

Increasing Government red tape and duty charges have also been criticised by the pub trade.

Punch added: “Sixty per cent of people now drink at home, that has had an impact on the pub trade.

“What we are trying to do is promote the great things about the British pub.

“We are trying to promote the pub as the focal point of the community. There are unique things you can get at the pub that you cannot get at home.”

A spokeswoman for Enterprise Inns, which also has an interest in a string of pubs in the county, said that each pub was treated individually with local factors taken into consideration to keep them in business.

Looking to the future, Mr Tuer said pubs in tourist hot spots, those renowned for their food and bars with a stake in their community would be the ones most likely to thrive.

“I’m thinking of the likes of the Robin Hood at Smithfield,” he added. “It does food, it does real ale but it’s also got a lot of darts teams.

“The pubs that will do well will be the pubs that get people to go in and play darts and pool. The town pubs struggle to do that.

“It is sad when you see these pubs boarded up or with ‘For Lease’ signs outside.

“You can sit in your house looking at the same four walls but these are places to socialise. Pubs are part of our heritage.”