CGA: more than 50 pubs a week now closing

The head of CGA Strategy, the pub and drinks market analyst, says the number of pubs closing has now reached more than 50 per week.

Speaking at The Tenanted Pub Company Summit, organised by the Morning Advertiser and M&C Report, chief executive Jon Collins said the number was now in 51-to-53 range - well above the previous peak estimate of 46.

CGA tracks the pub closure rate on behalf of the British Beer & Pub Association. At 53 per week, the pub closure level would equate to about 2,750 per year - almost 5% of the UK pub market.

The new closure rate of above 50 is well above the previous reported number of 39, which the BBPA and CGA announced January. The figure covered the second half of 2008.

The number of pubs shutting their doors has escalated to the current, alarmingly high level as the pub industry as encountered what has been dubbed the "perfect storm" - a potent cocktail of rising costs coupled with an extremely challenging trading period.

Collins said the pub closure numbers related to pubs that had at least a 95% chance of never opening again because they had been levelled and become a car park or turned into something else.

In March, Collins said he thought closure levels would peak at about 46.