Quarter of British pubs showing signs of recession

A quarter of pubs in Britain are showing signs of a recession, according to a recent financial analysis of the trade.

But it is not all bad news, with 38 per cent of licensees seeing sales grow above the industry average.

The Plimsoll Portfolio analysis of pubs discovered licensees fell into one of four categories when they were considering the possibility of a recession.

Twenty five per cent of the 318 publicans surveyed said they felt they were in a recession now. They had seen sales fall by an average of 11 per cent over the last year.

The survey found that these pubs tend to be smaller outlets which, according to Plimsoll's financial analyst David Pattison, "are seemingly getting left out of an otherwise healthy market".

Things are not all bad, however. Market growth for the trade as a whole currently stands at nine per cent, while profitability is at 5.3 per cent.

Sales grew by more than 20 per cent last year for 120 of the pubs surveyed.. Mr Pattison said: "These pubs would definitely not consider themselves to be in a recession at the moment - and who could blame them."

According to the Plimsoll research, the possibility of a recession should not be measured across industry as a whole.

"To generalise on company performance seems outdated and flawed. Recession will be more accurately determined by individual companies. It is up to those individuals as to what stance they have on the issue and what strategies they will take to ensure survival," Mr Pattison said.